A one-man show about Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, who with Sir Edmund Hillary was one of the first mountaineers to successfully conquer Everest on his seventh attempt.
‘Tomorrow is a big day. Our first attempt to reach the summit. That was our plan, but mountains have their own plan.’
Set the night before Tenzing Norgay Sherpa made history with Sir Edmund Hillary by becoming the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest, this solo play charts his thoughts and fears at the attempt ahead, which is his seventh with the British team. He relives his other attempts, hampered by avalanches and snowfall – until the anxiety and exhaustion transform into the exhilaration of success.
1953: Race for the Summit received its US premiere at the New York Theatre Festival 2021, where Om Raj Raut was nominated for Best Actor and also received a playwriting nomination from the Frigid New York Theatre Festival. In New York, his work has also been seen Off-Broadway, and at the Marian Andersen Theater and BMCC Tribeca Performing Center.
The show is conceived, written, and performed by Om Raj Raut under the direction of Ayusha Sanjel Chhetri.
Nepalese actor and playwright Raut said: “I am very excited to bring the show to Fringe. Everybody knows about Mt Everest but most people are unaware of the two heroes’ journey and the struggles they had to face. My play recalls the night before reaching the summit and Sherpa’s adventures of escaping the life-threatening avalanches, storms, and snowfalls. Overall, It shows how the British team and Nepali Sherpa worked collectively to conquer Mount Everest in 1953.
“I want to present this collaboration between the British and Nepal and their great achievements to reach the top of the summit. It’s an honour to represent their triumph again to people and appreciates their team effort to be the first successful Mt. Everest expedition.”
With the intention of bringing diverse cultures and intrinsic human truth to a global audience from his varied background, Raut seeks to represent his country through the art of theatre performance.
