Sea change as Heart of Oak swims into Buxton

Published: 2 July 2016
Reporter: Steve Orme

In the swim: Hitting the Wall

Heart of Oak Theatre Company will make its Buxton Fringe debut with Hitting the Wall, a new play about a man’s attempt to swim the previously unconquered sea channel between the Mull of Kintyre and Ireland.

In 2012 Wayne Soutter, one of the slowest people to swim the English Channel, decided he would be the first person to conquer the route described as “the most dangerous endurance swim in British waters”. He would endure cold seas, strong winds, treacherous tides and 50-foot jellyfish.

Matthew Warburton’s play is based on blogs and interviews with Wayne Soutter and boat captain Paul Greenhalgh. Hitting the Wall asks why we choose to do things that might better be left undone and explores what drives people on. It was written for an open-door night at Birmingham REP.

Hitting the Wall will be performed in the Pauper’s Pit, Buxton on Friday 8 and Sunday 10 July at 5:45PM and Wednesday 20 July at 5:30PM.

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