NZ Folk Band Marks Antarctic Centenary with Award-Winning Fringe Show

Songs, stories and images from the Heroic Age: The Explorers Club: Antarctica

Following an epic year of sold-out shows and rave reviews, Kiwi alt-folksters Bond Street Bridge are set to melt hearts in the Victorian premiere of The Explorers Club: Antarctica in the Melbourne Fringe Hub.
The show, which plays Saturday 27 September-Saturday 4 October at the Melbourne Fringe Hub venue Upstairs At Errol's in North Melbourne, marks 100 years since Shackleton's celebrated Endurance expedition departed for Antarctica.

Using spoken-word storytelling, original folk songs, heritage images and new illustrations, the band brings the tales of Scott, Shackleton, and the heroic age of Antarctic exploration to life in an award-winning production critics have called 'a perfect evening of music.'

This unique show is product of NZ group Bond Street Bridge frontman Sam Prebble's obsession with the stories and heroes of the dramatic period of history a century ago. Reading diaries, letters, and published accounts of the early Antarctic expeditions, Prebble has used the words of the explorers themselves to create songs which pay tribute to their legacy and celebrate the indomitable spirit of this lost age.
Accessing heritage photographs taken by the explorers on the ice, the band commissioned artist Emily Cater to produce a series of illustrations responding to the stories and songs, which accompany the performance as cinematic projections.

Since its premiere in the 2013 NZ Fringe, the show has played over 100 times around New Zealand at Arts Festivals, museums, galleries and theatres. Winning the award for 'best music' at the 2013 NZ Fringe Awards, the show has drawn critical acclaim and packed houses around the country.
2014 marks the centenary of Shackleton's extraordinary feat of survival aboard the Endurance, and this story is retold in the show along with the tale of Scott's disastrous attempt on the South Pole two years earlier. The crew of the Endurance experienced two years of extraordinary hardship between 1914 and 1916 when their ship was crushed by ice in the Weddell Sea, and Shackleton's remarkable leadership and courage in bringing all of his 27 crew home safe has become legendary.

'We think of these as folk stories in the same sense as folk songs,' says Prebble. 'One of the reasons we travel so far sharing these stories is that they are tales that belong to everyone - and tales need to be kept alive by being told.'

The show's formidable live reputation has seen the band invited to perform the work at gala events at New Zealand's top museums and festivals, and in early 2014, Bond Street Bridge toured with Billy Bragg, presenting the show at some of the country's premier live music venues.

SHOW DETAILS
The Explorers Club: Antarctica
Sat 27 Sept- Sat 4 Oct, 8pm (7pm Sun, no show Mon)
Upstairs At Errol's, 69-71 Errol St, North Melbourne
Tickets: Full $23 Concession $19 Tuesday $15 Group 6+ $21
TO BOOK www.melbournefringe.com.au, (03) 9660 9666
See video and audio at http://www.bondstreetbridge.com

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