By Lilac Nguyen, Assistant Arts Editor |

Four men are stranded on a 13-foot-long lifeboat somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean without food, fresh water, or any respite from the glaring sun. Their options: face their impending death, or… eat the cabin boy. 

This horrifying scenario is the tragic story of the 1884 Mignonette shipwreck. The questions of sacrifice and morality this tale inspires take on a new life in the jukebox musical Swept Away, featuring music from the American folk rock band The Avett Brothers. After shows throughout the country, including a 2024 Broadway run, its most recent regional premiere in Boston is the culmination of a painstaking year of research, casting, and rehearsal by its director: Winsor’s own Jeremy Johnson! 

Swept Away was presented by the SpeakEasy Stage Company at the Boston Center for the Arts. During its run from April 24 to May 23, the emotionally resonant show, featuring an aerialist, a constantly changing set, and an extremely strong cast, was praised by the Boston Globe as a “must see.” 

Mr. Johnson, whose father and grandfather were sailors, notes the musical’s connection to our state. Whaling, deeply rooted in local history, and Mr. Johnson’s personal ties to the ocean drew him to the musical. Additionally, in the fall, Mr. Johnson’s directing students explored the play Trophy Boys, in which modern masculinity is framed, he explains, as a “bid for status.” Working with a mostly male cast on Swept Away, he found himself asking, “What if men just allow themselves to be vulnerable?” 

On May 20, Upper School students and Winsor faculty and staff filled row after row, united by our shared celebration of a person who has given so much to the Winsor community. Almost every Winsor student has taken one of Mr. Johnson’s classes, participated in the Class IV play, or experienced how his works connect us through our peers’ incredible theatrical talents. Despite the play’s heavy themes, Winsor students left the theater with an overwhelming sentiment of pride. As Sarah Finkelstein ’28, who has worked closely with Mr. Johnson for 6 years, reflected, “it really felt like Winsor was a part of the whole experience.”

Mr. Johnson says that involving his directing class in the early stages of the casting and concept development process influenced the show. Most of these students were again present for the show’s final moments, flooding the space with palpable Winsor support in what Mr. Johnson describes as a “moving, full circle” moment. During a discussion following the May 20 performance, Mr. Johnson lauded the “intelligence, sophistication, and professionalism” of his Winsor students, with whom he works at the same high level as he does with Swept Away’s professional cast. 

While the show closed on May 23, the pride it inspires in the Winsor community stays with us. If the fight for survival is the body of the musical, its soul is the human forgiveness that prevails between the four very different main characters. We, too, must appreciate the essential Winsor connections that keep us afloat on the most turbulent seas.