About That Sinking Feeling: A Titanic Comedy Aboard Three Lifeboats

 This rambunctious play is not your typical history lesson! After the Titanic strikes an iceberg, a cast of eclectic personalities must navigate life and death when they discover their respective lifeboats are beset by madcap disasters in the form of inescapable fate, a murder mystery, and gothic horror. As the ship sinks, facts descend into fiction and reality descends into hilarious absurdity, but the truth is never far from the surface. All the while, the band plays on. In this three act show, quirky characters face off to try to accomplish their own selfish motives. Some would like to escape the sinking ship while others are doomed to recite Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven.”

This is the story of the Titanic turned on its head (or stern, as it were). Each act of the play tells the story of separate lifeboats on the deck of- and in the water near-- the sinking Titanic. There's intrigue, zombies, and a murder mystery. Each lifeboat is separated by interludes involving portrayals of three of the real musicians aboard the Titanic, grounding the story in an eerie reality. Mrs. Hudson saw the show performed last fall at Loudoun Valley High School and thought it was amazing so she contacted the play’s writer, Brant Powell. When asked why he wrote a comedy about the Titanic, Powell responded with, “Mark Twain once said, ‘Humor is tragedy plus time.’ I think after 107 years, it’s possible to view the Titanic in a broader context.”

Broad Run Theatre

Opened since 1969 Broad Run Theatre strive to empower our students through the performing arts. Our motto is big voices, big choice! This year has been a little different to say the least in the format this show was brought to you. But, nevertheless students voice and choice was the deciding factor in everything presented today. From direction, stage management, technical design, editing, costuming, and acting Broad Run Theatre empowers students to dare to take a chance and empower them in creative roles and problem solving. This was a huge undertaking, taking a full length stage show and adapting it to film, but our students rose to the challenge!