The Egan Maritime Institute was pleased to present An Evening of Shipwreck Stories & Sea Shanties at the Nantucket Shipwreck & Lifesaving Museum, 158 Polpis Road, on Thursday, August 23, 2018. Doors opened at 5:30pm; and the performance began at 6pm. Patrons enjoyed lite fare and libations prior to the performance.
An Evening of Shipwreck Stories & Sea Shanties featured Nantucket actors and musicians who brought the island’s valiant lifesaving stories to life through dramatic readings set against the theatrical backdrop of the museum’s Shannon Gallery and original 1914 Massachusetts Humane Society surf boat, Siasconset.
Museum Director, Lisa Lazarus, shared that patrons heard, “heroic feats such as the rescue of the crew aboard the H.P. Kirkham by celebrated Nantucket keeper Walter N. Chase and his Coskata lifesaving crew on a cold January night in 1892. This is a fearless tale of rescue and perseverance that occurred fifteen miles off of Great Point on the Rose and Crown Shoal and took more than 24 hours.”
Fitting with the night's theme, the program ended in song. Sea shanties were used by lifesavers and sailors to foster synchronicity while rowing. This powerful evening of story and song was a truly special, authentic Nantucket experience.
Photos by Katie Kaizer Photography.
