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‘69° S.’ is entrancing

Stage Review

THIS STORY APPEARED IN

February 10, 2012|By Don Aucoin

69 S. tells the story of Ernest Shackletons antarctic expedition using… (PHANTOM LIMB )

For desolate Patriots fans who could use a reminder of happier times, consider this:

As Bill Belichick was preparing his team for the 2001-02 season - the one that ended with the first Super Bowl victory of the Belichick era - he gathered them for a screening of “Shackleton’s Antarctic Adventure,’’ a film about the arduous 1914-16 expedition led by Sir Ernest Shackleton.

Once the season began, Belichick kept reminding his players about what he called the “principles of endurance, courage, and teamwork’’ that enabled Shackleton and his men to survive a grueling ordeal. The coach later said it helped forge the much-noted bond developed by that year’s team.

Football aside, the near-mythic dimensions of the Shackleton expedition story have prompted a spate of films, and several books as well. But for sheer power to haunt the imagination, to capture the sense of isolation felt by that small band of men when they were trapped on the bottom of the world with no guarantee they would make it out alive, it’s hard to picture anything surpassing “69° S. (The Shackleton Project).’’

And here’s the amazing thing: It’s done with puppets.

To be precise, 4-foot-tall marionettes, manipulated by hooded performers on stilts who are attired in spectral white. This may sound like a stunt, a gimmick that trivializes its subject. It’s not. Rather, over the course of 65 minutes (not a one of which is wasted), this entrancing multimedia work creates a portrait of humanity locked in eternal struggle with nature’s brute force - while reminding us that any victory over nature is at best temporary.

Created by Erik Sanko (who also designed the puppets) and Jessica Grindstaff (who also designed the set), “69° S. (The Shackleton Project)’’ is a production by Phantom Limb, the collaborative, New York-based theater company Grindstaff and Sanko founded in 2007. Presented by ArtsEmerson, “69° S.’’ is running on the Paramount Center Mainstage through Sunday under the direction of Sophie Hunter.