A powerful dramatic monologue…the true story of a man who became the basis for the character Captain Ahab in Moby Dick
The Smithtown Township Arts Council will present the compelling one-act play, "Wake of the Essex." Set in 1851 on the Island of Nantucket, retired Captain Pollard serves as a night watchman on a straight wharf. He is possessed by the tragic event sum thirty years before, when the whale ship Essex was sunk by a whale under his command. The play features a haunting and deeply moving dramatic monologue by actor Bob Manzari as it follows the psychological journey of the captain after the wreck and his struggle with guilt and survival. The sole confidant of the shipwrecked sea captain, Herman Melville, later based his classic Moby Dick on this true event. The playwright, a direct descendant of the captain, has a personal connection to the story.
