Edinburgh Fringe 2024
Ascension
Dan Hazelwood
Genre: Historical, LGBTQ+ Theatre, Storytelling, Theatre
Venue: Bedlam Theatre
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
A poignant, beautifully crafted, show exposing the timeless nature of queer identity.
Review
We are about a quarter of the way through the 21st century, allegedly enlightened times. And yet, homosexuality remains banned in more than 60 countries. In many cases it can attract the ultimate sanction of the death sentence. In previous centuries of course, the world was even more unforgiving and Ascension relates the tale of an 18th century Dutch sailor left on uninhabited Ascension Island as punishment for sodomy.
It is always a moment of joy to return to Bedlam Theatre and we enter to find the impressive Dan Hazelwood sat on stage, with only a bench for company. Here we learn the story of Leendert Hasenbosch, a member of the Dutch East India Company. He grew up around The Hague, his family being devoutly religious. His father’s haunting words ring in his ears : “stay out of trouble”. However, following a homosexual encounter when working in a warehouse, his employer Jan threatens to expose him to his father unless he agrees to pay off a spurious debt – in other words he is extorted. Hasenbosch panics and flees… but at every new start, Jan somehow manages to catch up with him, exacting financial recompense. His by now confirmed sexuality continues to torment and give rise to conflicted emotions.
Hasenbosch is eventually arrested aboard ship and is convicted of sodomy. He may well have been executed, but instead the captain banishes him to Ascension, a small island in the South Atlantic, half way between Africa and South America. He is given scant provisions : this is akin to exile to Siberia, where most would expect to succumb to a slow death. On the island, Hasenbosch barely ekes out an existence, constantly battling to find sufficient food and critically water. After 5-6 months, his diary entries stop and it can be surmised that he died of thirst. His isolation, the lack of nutrition, dehydration and ill-advisedly resorting to drinking seawater gave rise to substantial mental strain before his inevitable demise.
Hazelwood is intermittently joined on stage by Conor Mainwaring, at times as his former lover Andrew, at other times an apparition conjured by his deteriorating mental state. Mainwaring provides a perfect foil for Hazelwood, their chemistry being palpable. It is a sharply observed script, e.g. Hasenbosch’s life evidently flashes before his eyes just before the end and the title in itself having a religious connotation. Max Lindsay’s shrewd direction and at times minimalist approach allows the actors space to eloquently tell their story.
It is a moving performance, the themes of which even from 200 years ago powerfully resonate with our modern perspective : religious intolerance, coming out, the arching need for love. A poignant show, highly recommended.
