George Mallory Centenary - 1924 to 2024

To honor the 100-year anniversary of the disappearance of George Mallory near the summit of Mt. Everest, I have attached a copy of a stage play I wrote about the expeditions of the 1920's.  While this is an adaptation of my screenplay on the same subject, it is very different in its structure, perspective, and outlook.  Theater being a medium of language and ideas allowed me to explore a wider range of themes about those pioneering expeditions.  I have personally climbed unguided in the Himalaya as this site notes, and I know how difficult it is to seriously mount an attempt on any 8,000-meter peak, particularly without oxygen, a fixed route, or Sherpas guides.  I have also been to north side of Everest, and I must confess I was utterly overwhelmed with how Mallory and his compatriots ever thought they would be able to achieve anything.  And yet, they achieved so much.

I ordinarily would not publish a copyrighted literary work in its complete form to the internet, but in deference to Mallory and his "lost generation" of unbelievably tough, resilient, and visionary explorers, I felt compelled to set aside my petty legalistic and literary paranoia.