Moby Dick—Rehearsed is a two-act drama by Orson Welles. The play was staged June 16–July 9, 1955, at the Duke of York's Theatre in London, in a production directed by Welles. Welles used minimal stage design. The stage was bare, the actors appeared in contemporary street clothes, and the props were minimal. For example, brooms were used for oars, and a stick was used for a telescope. The actors provided the action, and the audience's imagination provided the ocean, costumes, and the whale. Welles filmed approximately 75 minutes of the production, with the original cast, at the Hackney Empire and Scala Theatres in London. He hoped to sell the film to Omnibus, the United States television series which had presented his live performance of King Lear in 1953; but Welles stopped shooting when he was disappointed in the results. The film is considered lost.
Credits
Moby Dick—Rehearsed Cast
| Name |
Character |
|
Joan Plowright
She was 25, now 95 years old
|
as A Young Actress / Pip |
|
Christopher Lee
He was 32, 93 years old when he died
|
as A Stage Manager / Flask |
|
Kenneth Williams
He was 28, 62 years old when he died
|
as A Very Serious Actor / Elijah and others |
|
Orson Welles
He was 39, 70 years old when he died
|
as An Actor Manager / Father Mapple / Ahab |
|
Patrick McGoohan
He was 26, 80 years old when he died
|
as A Serious Actor / Starbuck |
|
Gordon Jackson
He was 31, 66 years old when he died
|
as A Young Actor / Ishmael |
|
Wensley Pithey
He was 40, 79 years old when he died
|
as A Middle-Aged Actor / Stubb |
Moby Dick—Rehearsed Crew
| Name |
Department |
|
Herman Melville as Novel. He was 136 (73) years old when He died
|
Writing |
