The Voyage of the Carcass (one-act)

One-act comedy / 1f, 2m

Bo'sun Smythe is dead. Trapped in the ice at the North Pole, only three members of the doomed Carcass crew remain: Bane Barrington, buffoonish explorer; Ship's Chaplain Kane, a rector in drag; and Israel, their mute Canadian first mate. Will they make it home alive? Weaving commedia dell’arte with theatre verite, The Voyage of the Carcass is a play about dreams, and the aftermath.

The Voyage of the Carcass was devised and developed at Middlebury College with Andra Harbold, and received the Weston Award for Drama from Brown University. The Voyage of the Carcass premiered at Perishable Theatre in Providence, RI, directed by Eric Tucker. The play’s NYC premiere was at HERE Arts Center, produced by Page 73 Productions and directed by Alyse Rothamn. An off-Broadway production at SoHo Playhouse was directed by Randy Baruh.

“At whiplash turns bitter and sweet, The Voyage of the Carcass expertly navigates the pitfalls of artistic cannibalism: scavenging from our own life to feed our life’s work.”

—Jessica Winter, Village Voice

“Hilarious and unexpectedly profound . . . You will be greatly entertained by this play, and you will leave with something genuine to think about. Go see it.” 

—Martin Denton, NYTheatre.com

“The masterly way in which O'Brien weaves the stories together, allowing humor and banality to seep into every crevice and fold, makes for a sumptuous bit of cultural criticism and is a lesson in the instructive power of comedy.”

—Jerry Portwood, Backstage

“The Voyage of the Carcass takes us on a delightful excursion into the theatre of the absurd . . .

—Lela Tredwell, The Reviews Hub

“There’s slapstick, murderous violence involving an ice axe (don’t ask) . . . It’s bonkers. And very funny.”

—Strat Mastoris, FringeReview