Nantucket.1851. Centre of a whaling industry that transformed blubber into the oils and candles that lit the world. It’s there that a schoolmaster called Ishmael arrives to ship on a whale-boat. He enrols under Ahab, Captain of the Pequod – a man bent on destroying the white whale that lost him his leg. Certain the destruction of his nemesis will slake his thirst; Ahab’s single-minded pursuit of Moby-Dick consumes Ishmael, the crew and the Pequod itself.

The spirit and atmosphere of Herman Melville’s masterpiece – romantic, ambiguous, characterful and rich with allegory – is captured on stage by simple8 with “a treasure chest of talented actors, impressive musicians and intelligent scripting and directing” (New Statesman).