Titanic: The Officer and the Survivor

On the night of April 14, 1912, two lives crossed for only a few moments aboard the sinking RMS Titanic.

Sixth Officer James Paul Moody was just twenty-four years old, one of the officers responsible for guiding passengers to the lifeboats as the seemingly impossible became reality. Twelve-year-old Ruth Becker had become separated from her mother and younger siblings and was desperately searching for a way off the doomed ship.

At Lifeboat 13, their stories met.

Titanic: The Officer and the Survivor is a powerful two-person interactive historical drama based on the true experiences of Moody and Becker. In Act One, Moody takes the audience aboard Titanic, recounting the voyage, the iceberg warning, the collision, the evacuation, and the terrible realization that there would not be enough lifeboats for everyone. Before returning to his final duties aboard the ship, he invites the audience to question him directly.

Then he helps young Ruth Becker into Lifeboat 13.

The ship disappears into darkness.

Act Two begins aboard the lifeboat, where Ruth continues the story from the survivor's perspective. She recalls the terrifying escape from Titanic, the danger of another lifeboat nearly descending on top of hers, watching the great ship vanish beneath the Atlantic, hearing the cries from the water, being rescued by Carpathia, reuniting with her family, and carrying the memory of Titanic for the rest of her life.

Ruth also invites the audience to ask questions, allowing each performance to become a unique encounter with history.

Requiring only two actors and minimal staging, Titanic: The Officer and the Survivor is ideal for schools, libraries, museums, historical societies, community theaters, educational programs, and touring performers.

More than a story about a ship, this is a story about courage, survival, memory, and the extraordinary human choices made during one of history's most unforgettable disasters.