Solicitor General: Were you on duty at the time this accident happened?
Frederick Barrett. Yes. There are eight firemen in No. 6 and four trimmers who wheel the coal. Water came pouring in. The ship's side was torn from the third stokehold to the forward end. British Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry. 12th May, 1912
Standing like a soldier on parade, Frederick Barrett presents his first hand account of that fateful night, 14th April, 1912 when the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg and sank with the loss of 1,523 passengers and crew. Asked to describe what happened, he shares his personal experience as a stoker in Boiler room 6, deep down below the waterline of the steamship.
With the sound of shovelling coal, his face and clothes streaked in sweat and black soot, he relives the ‘backbreaking work’ in the 50C heat from the inferno of the boilers, burning 600 tons of coal, four hours on, eight hours off; time for cards, dinner, a drink, trying to forget a broken romance back home. ‘We shall be in New York by Wednesday!’
A sudden shriek of an alarm, a thunderous crack, 'water is gushing through the hull', as he crawls on hands and knees to escape the flooded boiler room but at 11.55pm the coal bunker too is 15 feet of icy water. The Titanic will sink. Frederick takes command and shouts at his crew mates to get out. As the band plays on, he recalls the surreal vision of first class guests wearing life jackets over dinner suits, the panic and confusion of lifeboats, a tangle of ropes and the human instinct of survival.
While Barrett is a character in James Cameron's epic 1997 movie, 'Titanic", it is essentially a fictionalised love story, while 'Titanic the Musical" focuses on the tragic loss of many wealthy American passengers, Astor, Straus, Guggenheim.
Flowing with richly evocative sound effects and music, "Boiler Room 6: A Titanic Story" is akin to a radio play, enhanced through atmospheric, theatrical realism. Tom Foreman has imagnatively dramatised the extraordinary true life story experience of Frederick Barrett, a lowly, low paid fireman, based on his personal testimony and factual evidence.
With a gaunt, grimy face and sense of physical exhaustion, Max Beken gives a quietly intuitive portrayal of this unsung, selfless and largely forgotten hero of the Titanic disaster: an electrifying, emotional 5 star solo performance.
Showtimes:
2 – 24 August, @ 12.40
Ticket prices: £13.50 (£12); £12.50 (£11).
Age guidance: 12+
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/boiler-room-six-a-titanic-story