The Professor of Adventure, Theatre by the Lake, Keswick
LONELINESS isn’t about being alone, it’s about not having the choice - and that is at the heart of Peter Macqueen’s one-man play about the life of Millican Dalton, known as the Borrowdale Hermit.
Based on the real life caveman of the Lake District, the Professor of Adventure takes you not only into the cave he calls his home, above Keswick at the start of World War Two, it takes you into the mind of an educated man who was a head of his time.
The claustrophobic set nestled into the heart of the interment Studio theatre brings the audience into the moment - with carefully crafted lines directed out front. Macqueen captures in his lyrical script the passion, and confusion of a man who thought, like many the Great War was that to end all conflict, yet once again found himself even deep within the granite hills of the lakes, dragged into the theatre of war.
The air raid warden has made an official visit to the cave, to demand the single flickering candle Dalton has for company each night is snuffed out to prevent Luftwaffe bombs being dropped. Once the choice between light and dark is taken away, the choice of seeing or not seeing his brother is withdrawn through death, Dalton’s freedom is dwindling away.
His chosen life of less is more, to escape the 9-to-5 rat race of the city has been rudely interrupted. And it remains as relevant and popular a chose today as ever.
Macqueen, the playwright, is touring Cumbria with this production, performing at village halls across the county. It is a magical performance, and does not portray Dalton as a lone figure. Macqueen holds him up high, as a man whose ideas are as fresh today as back in 1940-41 when this play is set.
Within the chiselled cave walls you can see the faces of Dalton and others as the firelight dances over the set. The smell of the strong coffee he brews and the steam from the boiling pot create a symphony for the senses, providing a colourful backdrop for the twists and turns of words in this beautiful script about a Cumberland gent who I’m glad Macqueen discovered.
The Professor of Adventure runs at The Theatre by the Lake until April 5.
Karen Morley-Chesworth
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