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March- April 2003 Directed and Designed by | 
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Iron Age Theatre &Spectacular play about the heroic race to be the first at the South Pole opens March 21 at the Montgomery County Cultural Center
"Great God this is an awful place!" Cries famed British explorer Robert Falcon Scott as he and his battered, frost-bitten team finally reach the South Pole. Iron Age Theatre and the Montgomery County Cultural Center proudly present "Terra Nova," Ted Tally's sweeping and spectacularly inventive play about the heroic, but doomed race to be the first men at the pole.
"Terra Nova" opens March 21and runs through April 13 at the Centre Theatre in the Montgomery County Cultural Center in Norristown. Showtimes are at 8 p.m. with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. On March 20 there is a "pay what you can" preview of the play at 8 p.m. Tickets are $16 and $12. Call 610-279-1013 for information.
In 1911 British Naval officer and explorer Robert Falcon Scott and Norwegian adventurer Roald Amundson set out to be the first men to reach the South Pole. Braving a brutal ice choked and gale wracked sea to reach Antarctica, the two men’s expeditions set out across the most unforgiving climate on earth to claim the honor of being the first at the pole.
Refusing to use sled dogs because he considered it unsporting, Scott and his men struggled to drag their heavy sleds across the frozen wasteland. After a 900 mile long exhausting march in 40 degree below zero weather, they found Amundson and his dog teams had beat them to the pole.
Drawn from letters and journals found on the frozen explorer's bodies, the play focuses on the doomed Antarctic expedition 
of Scott and his men. Told in flashbacks, the play gives us fateful glimpses of Amundson, Scott's beautiful young artist bride Kathleen and the build to Scott's compulsive drive to reach the pole.
A study of human pride, courage and resolve, the play builds towards a wrenching climax as Scott’s expedition battles to return home. The play captures with chilling intensity the awesome bravery of men who must accept the bitter knowledge that suffering and death will be the only reward for their heroism.
A theatrical tour de force, the play captures the epic sweep of times and personalities when there were still unexplored places on the earth. Tally’s play is a vast, tragic, but ultimately life affirming tale of the best and worst in our natures.
"There is a huge interest in Antarctica now," said Director John Doyle. "Several movies have been made about the Shackelton expedition and new documentaries and books about Scott and Amundson are 
out now. People are looking for heroes and the exploration of Antarctica has stories of heroism that are truly inspiring."
Doyle went on to say that the spirit of endeavor and discovery are still with us today. "As a species we hunger for exploration of new frontiers. The recent tragedy of the space shuttle Columbia shows we are still reaching for new unexplored worlds and are willing ,like Scott and his men, to face the ultimate sacrifice to do it," said Doyle.
Ted Tally is an award winning playwright and screenwriter whose work has often been laced with high psycho-dramatic tension. Tally won an Academy Award in 1991 for his adaptation of "Silence of the Lambs." He is a graduate of the prestigious Yale Theatre School. "Terra Nova" premiered at Yale Repertory Theatre in 1977 and went on to win the playwright an Obie Award with it's 1984 production in New York. Tally continues to write screenplays and movies.
Starring as the haunted and doomed explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott, is Bob Weick. Weick is a longtime company member of the Theatre Outlet in Allentown where he appeared n "The Laramie Project," "The Lonesome West," and "Gross Indenceny" among many others.. He has acted at the Philadelphia Fringe, with Iron Age Theatre and extensively on television and independent film.
Ray Saraceni plays the driven pole-obsessed Norwegian Roald Amundson. Saraceni has acted at Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival, Arcadia Shakespeare, Villanova University and with Iron Age Theatre. He was most recently seen as George in last fall's critically acclaimed "Of Mice and Men.
Playing Scott's beautiful, bohemian sculptress wife Kathleen is Susan Paige Lane. Lane has a BFA from the University of Memphis and was a company member of The Phoenix Theatre Circle in Columbus, Ohio. 
In Philadelphia she has worked for Philadelphia Young Playwrights Festival, The Brick Playhouse and AGProductions.
Markus Zanders plays the Boer War veteran and aristocratic horseman Oates. Zanders is a graduate of Temple University and has acted at the Blue Ridge Theater Festival, in Pittsburgh and San Diego.
Jered McLenigan plays the strong seaman Evans. McLenigan has appeared in many Iron Age productions most notably as the stuttering Billy Bibbit in "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest," and as the wolf in "Seventy Scenes of Halloween."
Rounding out the strong cast is Pete Sanchez as Dr. Wilson and John Filder as "Birdie" Bowers. Iron Age Theatre has been one of the most critically acclaimed companies working in the Philadelphia Area. Last fall the company’s revival of the Steinbeck classic "Of Mice and Men" played to sold out houses and lavish critical praise.
Other recent shows include Amiri Baraka’s racially charged revolutionary drama "Dutchman," played at the African American Museum for the Philadelphia fringe Festival, a new theatrical adaptation of the classic Ken Keasey novel "One Flew Over the Cukoos Nest," Sam Shepard’s "Curse of the Starving Class," Tennessee Williams "Night of the Iguana,"
The Centre Theater is in the Montgomery County Cultural Center at 208 DeKalb Street in Norristown. It is easily reached from Routes 202, I-76, I-476 and Ridge Pike. There is plenty of free parking and the theatre is one block from Septa's Norristown Transit Center, R6 line. Call 610-279-1013 for tickets and information or visit us on the web at www.artscc.org.
