Austin Hobart Clark brought back to life in Discovery Theater play, with the help of the Pawsons

June 8, 2014, was a great day for two reasons: one, Earth’s oceans were celebrated the world over as part of World Oceans Day. Two, Dave and Doris Pawson’s research into the life of renowned Smithsonian scientist Austin Hobart Clark (1880-1954) was celebrated in the debut of “The Great Adventures of Austin Clark and the Expedition Albatross.”

The one-man play was written and produced by Roberta Gasbarre of the Smithsonian Associates’ Discovery Theater, which partnered with the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) for the play’s debut. "It was an exciting request to create a piece of theater around the expedition that brought nearly 40% of the specimens to this museum," said Roberta. Ocean education specialist Trish Mace, who worked with Roberta, reflected that same enthusiasm, stating that “the Discovery Theater did a fabulous job. This was a really fun way to bring the science during that historical period to life.”

Josh Sticklin gives a terrific performance in the title role.

The Albatross Expedition of 1906 was late to launch due to the April 18 San Francisco earthquake and fire. For two weeks after the fire, the ship was occupied shuttling people to safety across the San Francisco Bay. Once underway, on the seven-month cruise across the Pacific to Siberia and Japan, Clark, aged 25, wrote letters almost every day to his wife Mary, including colorful descriptions of life on board the ship, ports visited, and the deep-sea research work. The wonderful letters, now property of the Smithsonian Institution, formed the basis for the play. On the journey, Clark, a self-professed "birdman", becomes acquainted with and falls in love with deep sea echinoderms. [Editor's note: Science is like that!]

Austin Hobart Clark at the age of 25, photographed in Yokohama, Japan, in 1906, after the Albatross Expedition was underway.

Following the expedition, Austin Clark was hired as curator of echinoderms at NMNH. He continued in this position for nearly 50 years, before passing away in 1954. Clark described more than 500 new species of marine animals, and he was also a "popularizer" of science, pioneering science programs on the radio during the 1920s, and writing several popular natural history books.

Austin Hobart Clark, cozy in his office in the National Museum of Natural History, surrounded by his life's work.

After the play, Dave showed off a (crowd-pleasing!) cart of specimens recovered by Austin Clark during the Albatross Expedition. Some of Austin Clark’s relatives, including his daughter, were also in attendance. Roberta particularly enjoyed the hands-on side, recollecting that "the most exciting part of the whole production was handling the specimens and artifacts and getting a feel of Austin's true emotions during that long journey."

Dave Pawson displays an echinoderm collected by Austin Hobart Clark to a captive audience after the play's debut.

It was also a bit of an arduous journey bringing this play to production. The debut was pushed back multiple times due to a delay in construction of the Q?rius theater, the government shutdown last fall, and the play's star actor, Josh Sticklin, being occupied with another production. In that sense, Roberta muses that "the play certainly lived up to its name - the albatross!"

While there are no set plans to run the play again in the immediate future, the goal of the partnership is to incorporate the play into NMNH’s education and outreach programming. An estimated 550 visitors and students attended "The Adventures" during its debut running period.

by Liz Boatman