Facing The Waves

A story that stretches across the centuries, a timeless responsibility passed on from one generation to the next. Ordinary people doing extraordinary things, putting the lives of others before their own.

Facing The Waves is a new musical from Dogwood Productions whose recent shows have toured England and been heard on BBC Radio 4. It features live songs and music from the award-winning composer, Alastair Collingwood.

Dogwood is honoured to be the official theatre partner for the RNLI as it celebrates its 200th anniversary in 2024.

The show brings together an iconic Victorian hero and a young mum, from the present day. Henry Freeman miraculously survived the Whitby lifeboat disaster when all the twelve other crew members perished, before leading some of the most extraordinary rescue attempts of the century. Faith is his counterpart, from a family steeped in the same tradition, juggling family, career and crewing the lifeboat. Will it be going off to sea or chips for tea?

The landscape and sea are unchanging, but life in a community facing the waves brings new challenges. Henry was an outsider, questioned and shunned for much of his life. Adventure and misadventure, if it wasn’t true, it couldn’t be written. In the 21st century, the tide of tourists masks the challenges that characterises many of our beloved seaside towns. For Henry and Faith there are personal demons to be faced, redemption to be found.

In preparing the show, Dogwood, working with the BBC, conducted numerous interviews with communities along our north-eastern coast, capturing the memories, experiences and expectations of those living by the sea to create an authentic tale.

The company’s shows focus on telling the story of those living in communities less well represented and previous productions have explored the joys and challenges of rural living. Dogwood is a Community Interest Company and features new music, street theatre and puppetry to create distinctive productions.

Alastair Collingwood has composed the music for several Dogwood Productions. He has been a composer for over 30 years and written scores for numerous theatre shows, including, London’s West End. His TV credits include the music for French and Saunders; the sitcoms, Mad About Alice (BBC 1) and Rhona (BBC 2); plus Vanessa’s Real Lives (ITV 1), Killer Shark Live (Five) and How Clean Is Your House? (Channel 4), amongst many others.