The title really says it all: I was indulging in gently thumbing my nose as some people in mangeorge’s “I hate musicals” thread by listening to my collection of musical theatre cast albums. One of the musicals I was paying deliberate attention to was Titanic. I got to thinking just how perfectly the history of that ship, and disaster, fits for the setting for a morality play on the cost of hubris, and other human foibles.
(Just as an aside here, the thing I can’t forgive about the recent Titanic movie was how it took that wonderful scenario and while still trying to hit all the obvious points made it into nothing more than the backdrop for a really cheesy romance.)
I got to thinking, what other historical events can Dopers look at, and say, “Yes, that would make for a great story or play, to illustrate this or that theme.” To my view of things a good candidate would be an event that is large enough to be well known, and have some immediacy for a general audience, but also small enough that it can still feel intimate. So, for me, while WWI, and especially the trench warfare, seems tailor made for such a work, it would take a good deal of fictionalizing to make it into the sort of story I’m contemplating. I admit, Eric Maria Remarque managed, but I think that he managed to take something so large as the trench warfare and make it so immediate and personal is one of the reasons his work is rightly hailed as a great work.
Some of my suggestions, based more on my own interests than anything else:
The loss of the Challenger
Shakleton’s last expedition
I’d like to suggest the loss of the HMS Victoria - but I don’t think it’s well known enough. For all that the visuals would be stunning.
An honest look at the things that lead to the Charge of the Light Brigade.
What other events can you think of?