Review: Boiler Room Six: A Titanic Story, Pleasance Theatre

114 years to the day that Titanic set sail from Southampton, Boiler Room Six: A Titanic Story sets off on tour from The Pleasance. Writer and director Tom Foreman has created a one-man play based on the evidence given to an inquiry after the sinking by Frederick Barrett, a surviving stoker, who was in charge of boiler room six.

With a set of just two wooden benches to support him, Charlie Sheepshanks takes on the role of Barrett and multi-roles through the rest of the crew working in the boiler room. Foreman’s script clearly lays out the workings of the boiler room and its importance to the ship. As Sheepshanks demonstrates how the coal was fed and stoked and cleared, he brings a raw physicality, showing the heavy toil of the backbreaking work done in 50-degree heat. This is effectively contrasted then with the stokers’ downtime and levity, as they swap stories, banter, play cards, and fight over those cards.

Sheepshanks effortlessly jumps between the men, showing us the grizzled old hands, the officers overseeing them and the young lad, lying about his age and learning the ropes through hard experience. Each character is distinctive, and even in a brief moment or with a single line is clearly defined. It’s very strong work.

With excellent sound and lighting from Technical Director Natalia Izquierdo, every moment is brilliantly supported. We hear the coal and the steam and the lights as the boilers fire up. There is a real standout moment as the electricity fails and the only light source is the fire flaring in a boiler. Working together, the creative team dramatically immerse us below decks, in the noise and heat and human cost of just running this small section of Titanic.

Then, of course, the reward for hubris arrives in the form of an iceberg. A particularly effective moment sees Sheepshanks dunk his head in water during a blackout as Titanic’s hull gives way. He continues, dripping water. It is such a simple choice but it builds the immersive experience, and we can almost feel the cold Atlantic water rushing in around the men, such is the visceral power of the staging, despite its simplicity.  

Foreman paces all of this effectively, allowing us time to meet the boiler room crew and become invested in their hard work. Then moving from this steady rhythm of men at work to a tight and breathless urgency as disaster unfolds. We follow Barrett as he rushes to rescue his men, then volunteers to stay below, attempting to keep the boilers going to keep the ship afloat, and then a desperate run from far below the waterline, up through Titanic in the hope of a lifeboat. That brief, miraculous moment where his ability to row sees him on a lifeboat, launching and fraught with danger, again superbly portrayed as he makes his escape.

Slightly less effective is Barrett’s personal life, with a woman and child left behind in complex circumstances. At the end we are told that Foreman has a personal connection to Barrett, so I think it is safe to assume a family connection to those left behind on shore, but it feels a little underdeveloped.

If you’ll pardon the pun, Charlie Sheepshanks gives a titanic performance (I’ll get my coat!). Foreman’s script is strong and engaging, and the technical work from Izquierdo brings it all together for a thrilling piece of history to unfold in front of us.

Written, directed and produced by Tom Foreman
Technical Director: Natalia Izquierdo
Assistant Producer: Rachel Nicholson

Boiler Room Six: A Titanic Story is on tour until 18 July 2026, before a run at Edinburgh Fringe.