Lifeboat
About
Lifeboat
An original story of courage, survival and enduring friendship
Age suitability: 10+
Running time: 60 minutes
Lifeboat is the extraordinary true story Bess Walder and Beth Cummings. It is a story of courage, a story of survival, a story of enduring friendship.
On Friday 13 September 1940, a ship, The City of Benares, set sail from Liverpool for Canada. On board were 90 evacuees escaping the relentless bombing and dangers of war torn Britain. Four days into the crossing, the ship was torpedoed and sank. Only eleven of the evacuees survived.
Two fifteen year old girls, Bess Walder and Beth Cumming, spent 19 terrifying hours in the water on an upturned lifeboat. They willed each other to survive. Now, over sixty years later, they remain firm friends.
Creative Team
Writer: Nicola McCartney
Director: Gill Robertson
Designer: Karen Tennent
Composer: Dave Trouton
Lighting Designer: Jeanine Davies
Production History
Number of performances to date: 314
Scotland 2002:
6th May 2002 - 8th June 2002
Scotland and The Republic of Ireland 2003:
15th September 2003 - 6th November 2003
Republic of Ireland and Canada 2004:
23rd April 2004 - 12th June 2004
UK Tour 2005:
6th August 2005 - 1st October 2005
Scottish Schools 2005:
22nd August 2005 - 13th October 2005
England and USA 2006:
6th February 2006 - 11th March 2006
The Ark, Dublin 2006:
10th October 2006 - 12th October 2006
UK and USA 2007:
31st January 2007 - 25th March 2007
New Zealand and Australia 2008:
22nd February 2008 - 30th March 2008