Stars of the stage and screen, arts and music are helping to transform one of English Literature's most celebrated poems for the digital age.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is an epic tale of adventure, fear and fascination - a work of 18th century science fiction that has prophetic messages for the natural world, climate breakdown and mental health globally relevant in the 21st century.
With that in mind, the Ancient Mariner Big Read - commissioned by The Arts Institute, University of Plymouth - brings together renowned public figures, artists and scientists to retell the poem for a modern audience.
The 150-verse poem has been divided into 40 readings, with each reader recording a sequence of three to four verses to be broadcast over the internet, day by day. Once complete, it will be available to listen to as one symphonic piece with a specially designed soundscape by Jay Auborn.
Free to access, the readings will also be accompanied by outstanding work from international contemporary artists and paired with relevant scientific research in fields including marine science and climate breakdown.
The project has been curated by author Philip Hoare, artist Angela Cockayne and Dr Sarah Chapman, Director of The Arts Institute. They previously collaborated on the Moby-Dick Big Read, which has gathered over 10 million hits since first being broadcast in 2012.
Launched on Saturday 18 April with a reading by actor and activist Jeremy Irons, the Ancient Mariner Big Read will also feature recordings by Tilda Swinton, Hilary Mantel, Lemn Sissay and Alan Bennett.
The project also coincides with a touring exhibition - Mariner: A Painted Ship Upon a Painted Ocean - which opened at The Levinsky Gallery, University of Plymouth last year and has since toured to The Edge, Andrew Brownsword Gallery in Bath, with a future opening date at the John Hansard Gallery in Southampton later this year.
Dr Sarah Chapman added:
"The sea has been a rich source of inspiration for many artists, poets and musicians in creating celebrated artworks that continue to stand the test of time. This project continues that legacy, uniting a love of language, poetry and how words and visual metaphor can cut across time and cultural barriers with a long-standing love of the sea, both as a physical and creative space. Informed by the latest research into marine science and marine pollution, the movement and migration of peoples across the seas, hidden postcolonial histories and human vulnerability and isolation, it reframes a classic narrative and gives a new perspective to an urgent ecological message."
The Ancient Mariner Big Read is supported by: The Box, Plymouth; The Edge Andrew Brownsword Gallery, University of Bath; John Hansard Gallery, University of Southampton; The Marine Institute, University of Plymouth; Arts Council England; and dBs Pro.
