Lorient

So I think I came three times to work together really on the script because she was in a way blocked.

Simon's speaking to us in the midst of rehearsals from Lorient, where the play will have its world premiere next week before touring France and its main run in Paris next month.

She's a wonderful theatre writer because she says...

I trust you.

So where are you right now?

So right now I'm in France in a place called Lorient, which is sort of in the western tip of France, and it goes right onto the Atlantic Ocean.

All right.

Kali, you did the Mini Transat.

Alex Burns and Andrew Bamford.

Today, Andrew's going to guide us through the 1746 Lorient Expedition.

We'll examine how political pressure, bizarre command decisions, and logistical failures turned a grand strategic vision into a fiasco.

Thank you for joining us for The Anatomy of a Coastal Disaster, The Lorient Expedition.

All right, so Andrew, today we're talking about something that you've written about, an amphibious operation.

We're going to be talking about the operation at Lorient in 1746.

Can you first give us an outline of where the heck are we in the world for this operation?

Yeah, I mean, there's quite a lot of deep background.