The Watch That Ends the Night
“This production tells the story of the passengers on the Titanic through interlinked poems from multiple perspectives. Five narrators help listeners keep the large cast straight as they create appropriate and distinct voices for each character. The range of accents (American, British, Norwegian, Irish, French, and Pakistani, to name a few), pitches, and tones makes the poetry and story accessible, and the way the production incorporates details like the chanting of a mail sorter and a periodic Morse Code sound effect adds verisimilitude. Dispatches from an undertaker who retrieves bodies after the accident are a continual reminder of where this story is headed, making the narrators’ jobs all the more important as they urge listeners to become invested in these characters. A weighty and compelling listen. Winner of the 2012 Audie Award for Distinguished Achievement in Production.”
AudioFile
Arrogance and innocence, hubris and hope—twenty-four haunting voices of the Titanic tragedy, as well as the iceberg itself, are evoked in a stunning tour de force.
Millionaire John Jacob Astor hopes to bring home his pregnant teen bride with a minimum of media scandal. A beautiful Lebanese refugee, on her way to family in Florida, discovers the first stirrings of love. And an ancient iceberg glides south, anticipating its fateful encounter. The voices in this remarkable re-creation of the Titanic disaster span classes and stations, from Margaret (“the unsinkable Molly”) Brown to the captain who went down with his ship; from the lookout and wireless men to a young boy in search of dragons and a gambler in search of marks. Slipping in telegraphs, undertaker’s reports, and other records, poet Allan Wolf offers a breathtaking, intimate glimpse at the lives behind the tragedy, told with clear-eyed compassion and astounding emotional power.
Praise