A Better Boy

In English
Approx. duration: 50 mins

Written by John Wilson Foster
Directed by Ian McElhinney, John Wilson Foster
Performed by Ian McElhinney

1917. William J. Pirrie, Chairman of Harland & Wolff, has agreed to an interview about his nephew Tommie Andrews – chief designer of RMS Titanic, a ship whose name Pirrie is loath to speak. He fondly recalls Tommie’s boyhood and apprenticeship. He re-lives the feverish enquiries after the sinking, the scorching sermons, the excited finger-pointing. But as it turns out, Pirrie has his own, quite different agenda. This dramatic monologue was first produced by the Belfast Titanic Company and staged by Kabosh Theatre Company as part of the Belfast Titanic Festival of 2012.

“A Better Boy is a lovingly crafted and condensed retelling of the Titanic tragedy from a refreshingly different angle.” (Alan Simpson, NI Theatre)

“It is beautifully written, frank, uncompromising and fascinating in its personal insights and reminiscences.” (Irish Theatre Magazine)

“The audience leaves… with a new and vivid sense of the passion and conviction that drove William J. Pirrie, Thomas Andrews and their colleagues to build so many ships of the scale and ambition of the Titanic.” (Tony Macaulay, Culture Northern Ireland)