The Fire on the Snow is a verse play by Douglas Stewart about the Terra Nova Expedition to Antarctica by Robert Falcon Scott. It premiered on ABC radio on 6 June 1941 to great acclaim..[1]
The original production was produced by Frank Clewlow and was to have starred Peter Finch as Scott, but he joined the army only four days before broadcast, so Frank Harvey replaced him. Clewlow decided to employ a female actor, Ida Osbourne, as narrator to contrast with the all-male cast. No copy of this original production exists.[2]
The play has been performed on radio several times since, including a later production starring Peter Finch for Frank Clelow and one directed by Tyrone Guthrie for the BBC in 1951.[3] It has also been adapted for stage, and an opera based on the play will have it's world premiere in 2012.[4]