‘Terra Nova’s’ Chilling Contradictions

“Would you like to kill your mates or kill yourself?” asks one of five Englishmen trekking through the snow in the winter of 1911-12 in Ted Tally’s “Terra Nova.” The play eloquently explores the contradiction of decency and patriotism in the brutal realities of Antarctica, known as terra nova.

Under the direction of Robin Strand, this seamless revival at the Crossley Terrace Theatre tells the poignant story of Capt. Robert Falcon Scott’s expedition to the South Pole. Each character is fleshed out in achingly sympathetic detail, entrenched in conflicting emotions and motivations.

After failing in his first attempt, Scott returned to this harsh landscape, racing to be first to the South Pole. Tally constructs the competition between the Norwegian and English teams by allowing Scott to be haunted by memories of his beautiful wife (Nan McNamara) and imagined confrontations and consultations with his Norwegian rival Roald Amundsen (Ted Rooney).

Male ego revved up to a testosterone high, ethnocentric pomp and gentlemanly behavior doomed Scott’s team, according to Tally.

The English denigrate Amundsen, who uses dogs to pull his sled while also slaughtering them for meat. He is a “killer of dogs.” Scott’s compatriots are “decent men,” assured that manpower is enough for this treacherous journey. “One doesn’t cease behaving properly just because one enters a wilderness,” Scott opines.

Unable to make hard decisions, Scott allows his team to be dangerously hindered by an injured man (John Allsopp) and allows his death to occur without benefit to the hunger-weakened team. Yet the nobility of their failure leaves a romantic glow that both Tally and Strand well understand.

Bruce Ladd plays Scott as a man uncomfortable in his own skin, unable to enjoy domestic life or celebrity yet longing for them. As the weakest member of the English team, Allsopp is vulnerable and submissively charming, while Marc Elmer stands in sharp contrast as “a soldier who knows his duty,” even if it is death.

The tall and elegantly thin Rooney looms over the other cast members like the messenger of death, a “filthy barbarian” pronouncing each miscalculation with cold detachment.

Tim Farmer and Mark Henderson of Sets to Go chose a minimalist approach. Sheets of off-white fabric are raised to represent both the changing landscape and tents; they also serve as a screen for slides showing the actual photographic record of the expedition. Krys Fehevari’s subtle makeup design carefully charts the men’s slow physical disintegration, as well as the refined charms of Scott’s wife.

The magnitude of Scott’s sacrifice and failure make him more than the “ludicrous footnote in history” that he is afraid will be his fate. This production is a touching remembrance.

* “Terra Nova,” Actors Co-op, Crossley Terrace Theatre, First Presbyterian Church, 1760 N. Gower St., Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2:30 p.m. Ends Nov. 2. $15. (213) 462-8460. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes.