To paraphrase Melville in his classic novel, Moby Dick:

“Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet […] I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.”

I first read (Listened, rather, due to my propensity for seeking out audio books) Moby Dick in the early part of my final few months of dental hygiene study. During this time, whether it was an excess of stress, a need for escape, or some other unconscious act, I listened to a fairly significant amount of maritime literature. When I deemed myself ready to set sail aboard the Pequod and follow Ishmael’s journey around Africa and into the daunting Pacific Ocean, I found myself overwhelmed by the novel. Its imagery and metaphor are so imaginative, and its pacing so strange to the modern reader (And, some would say, purposefully to allude to the pacing of life aboard a whaling vessel) that I had never experienced such a book, and to say that I was enamored would be a bit of an understatement.

It is this love of the book and its imagery, action, and metaphor that I wanted to express here. Many scenes in the book take place while held fast to a fleeing whale (Something that has been referred to as a Nantucket Sleigh Ride), and I wanted to bring that emotion and feeling to a young group and audience with the hope that any and all can find some joy in it just as I have.

Notable Performances:

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