Heathcote WilliamsWhale Nation ‘O ye whales and all that move in the waters…’‘Benedicte’ - The Book of Common Prayer Actor/writerHeathcote Williams had already started work on what was later to become hispoem, Sacred Elephant, when in the mid-1980s he started, inexplicably, to havevivid extended dreams about whales. Director Ken Campbell, on hearing this,encouraged him to write a piece about these mysterious creatures for hisunderwater theater in Liverpool. So Whale Nation came into being, a celebratoryepic portraying the history, life and habits of whales and dolphins and theirexploitation at the hands of man. It was performed many times in a stage production withpictures and whale song, initially by the author himself and then touredextensively by actor Roy Hutchens, in venues as varied as The National Theatreand the Natural History Museum, London and the Steinhart Aquarium, SanFrancisco. The poem was published by Jonathan Cape in 1988 and wascoupled with an extraordinary anthology of facts and figures, On The Nature ofWhales. The poet Ted Hughes wrote: ‘The poem isoverwhelming…brilliant, cunning, dramatic and wonderfully moving, a steadyaccumulation of grandeur and dreadfulness and never any sense of exploiting thesubject for poetic or literary effects, just a measured unfolding of realthings from the heart of the subject.’ Undoubtedly a work of this kind has stirred consciences allover the world. In presenting the subject and its stark realities in such anuncompromising manner, it has been a catalyst both in environmental andemotional terms. Performances have inspired the creation of branches of theenvironmental group Greenpeace; and many people have related that the poem hasdirectly challenged their thoughts and views on today’s society, its everincreasing materialism and ruthless greed. More recently, the book has been described as an icon ofanti-cosumerism.Whale Nation has been a best seller worldwide and,therefore, touched many peoples, but it is significant that despite strenuousefforts, the book has still not been published in Japan, Norway or Russia — thethree nations which still maintain their right to whale. In 1983, the explorer and adventurer Thor Heyerdahl wrote,‘it is not everybody’s fortune to have had bedside company with whales in theirown free playground, but those of us who have felt an urge to support thegrowing majority of mankind that demands that the tiny minority who threatensthe remaining whale species with complete extinction for personal economic gainsshould be forced to leave the whales in peace until able to multiply for thebenefit of future generations on this planet.’ Whale Nation was the first of a series of extended poemswritten by Heathcote Williams on subjects of environmental concern. The others,which have also had a considerable effect, are: Falling for a Dolphin (1988),Sacred Elephant (1989), and Autogeddon (1991). Although they brought Williams’ work to a broad public, hehad already established himself as a poet and playwright — his AC/DC wasproduced at London’s Royal Court and won numerous awards in the UK and the US.Other plays include Hancock’s Last Half Hour, and The Immortalist. As an actorhe has been equally versatile, playing Prospero in Derek Jarman’s film of TheTempest and Dr. Haggage in Little Dorrit. Notes by Sarah Butcher