THE LONELY SEA AND THE SKY

Francis Chichester’s memoirs are chronicled into a diary of his twentieth- century life of travel and adventure, punctuated throughout by danger and close calls with death. He was knighted by Elizabeth II after he became the first man to circumnavigate the world alone in a 54-foot boat. Emotionally, the hero seems reptilian. For example, while Chichester is away flying, his wife dies, and the only emotion he remembers is “surprise,” because she hadn’t been sick. Christopher Kay’s upper-class British English and precise speech make him a perfect choice to create a live performance from dusty memories. The taped recordings are of low fidelity, making the sound muddy. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 03]