Never at sea

Emma Walmsley from the Maritime Museum's Education team has just introduced a new character to her repertoire of historical figures. Here she describes how she researched and prepared the performance in order to make it as true to life as possible:

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"November saw the first performances of 'Never at sea' at the Maritime Museum - a new piece set in Liverpool during World War Two focusing on the city's involvement in the Battle of the Atlantic. I play a fictional Wren, May Hatton, based in the secret underground HQ at Derby House which was responsible for co-ordinating the convoys bringing our supplies into the port and for training escort commanders in tactics for contending with the U-Boat threat. I began researching the subject and the character in the spring, including asking on the blog for contact details of anyone who actually was in the Wrens at this time. After this request went out, I received a response from a lovely lady who was a Wren in the Isle of Man who came into the museum and gave me some wonderful stories and advice. Then came the script writing and finally the piece was finished off and rehearsed with a freelance director. See the Maritime Museum's What's on page on the website to find out when the next performance will be.