The Last South: Pursuit of the Pole

When I was a young lad and Captain Scott was considered a great British hero I could never understand why we celebrated the man who didn't get to the South Pole first yet heard nothing about Amundsen, the man who did.

It seemed to me that we celebrated the gallant amateur for losing and ignored the foreigner who had the temerity to plan, practice, make the right decisions and take the shortest route.

All of this is confirmed by G. M. Calhoun's new piece (it's not quite a play), but it did also make me have a slight shift of attitude. Scott and Amundsen sit in front of us, bathed in a chill blue Antarctic light, reading from their respective journals.

To get the negative out of the way first, these were clearly their scripts. No matter how much writing they pretended to do, it did look as though the actors were not on top of their lines. Since the publicity clearly states that they do read from the journals, surely it would have been better to have provided period-style books. That quibble aside, this is a powerful two-hander that brings into sharp focus the difference in preparation and results of the two expeditions.

Adrian Lukis has exactly the right unblinking, officer-class viewpoint as Scott; the attitude that knew he and only he had to make all the decisions. For much of the time this gives Scott an air of arrogance and makes him a difficult man to warm to. What made him so remarkable and gives him his lasting fame is the quality of his writing. As the end approaches the journals do show a genuine heroism in defeat. I hadn't realised that he had actually admitted in them that his preparations were wrong - this made me respect the man as I hadn't for years.

Jamie Lee is superb as Amundsen. Here is a man with a relish for polar exploration and the ability to lead his men by involving them and by allowing a relaxed attitude among them, even in the direst of circumstances. The most moving passages are those that show the very different return journeys; Scott's all trudge, bad weather, injury and death, Amundsen's all brisk forward movement, constant progress, plentiful supplies and even sunshine.

I'm glad I now know the story of the first man to get to the South Pole, and that I've become somewhat more understanding of the second to reach it.