News

Monday 13 February 2006

Actors find Malayan jungle in Nottingham

The company of actors from Sheffield Theatres' production of The Long and the Short and the Tall will be taking their research of the play to sultry extremes when they visit Nottingham Trent University's 'Environmental Chamber' on 15 February.

Willis Hall's gripping wartime thriller traces the fate of a patrol of soldiers stranded in the Malayan jungle where tension and temperatures rise. To get a taste of the suffocating heat and humidity their fictional characters would have suffered, the cast, lead by Jason Merrells of BBC 1's Cutting It, will enter the Environmental Chamber based at the University's School of Biomedical and Natural Sciences. The chamber will recreate the jungle's exact temperature and humidity, giving the actors a real insight into the setting of the play. The group plan to test their endurance to the limit by doing a full run of the show within the chamber.

The University's Environmental Chamber is one of only a few in the UK that offers precise control of temperature, humidity and altitude within a single unit.  It can simulate some of the most inhospitable places in the world with a temperature range from extreme cold (-20 C) to moist heat (40 C at 95% humidity).  It can also manipulate oxygen levels to reproduce altitudes of up to 15,000ft/4,600m (nearly 3.5 times higher than Ben Nevis).

Dr Chris Bussell, Sports Science Programme Manager at the School of Biomedical and Natural Sciences, said: "The Environmental Chamber is usually used for acclimatisation work for athletes competing in challenging environments or for research.  This is very different and it will be interesting to see how the actors will cope with the heat and humidity!"

                                                                 ENDS

Notes for editors:

For The Long and the Short and the Tall tickets, call the ticket office on +44 (0)114 249 6000 or visit Sheffield Theatres. This production will tour to the Theatre Royal, Norwich after it completes its run at the Lyceum.                   

For more information please contact:

Dave Rogers, Press Officer, on tel: +44 (0)115 848 2650 or via email: dave.rogers@ntu.ac.uk.

Or Therese Easom, Press and Media Relations Manager, on tel: +44 (0)115 848 6589 or via email: therese.easom@ntu.ac.uk.