THEY were hailed as two of the world's great heroes - intrepid explorers charting the most inhospitable places on the planet.

Now the truth of what happened when Robert Scott and Roald Amundsen raced to Antarctica is played out on stage in The Last South.

Crafted from Scott and Amundsen's actual expedition diaries, the play interweaves the two men's separate but concurrent journeys to the South Pole into a comparative account.

A deeply moving and compelling piece of story-telling, it charts the progress of two of the world's most revered and remembered explorers as they revealed the worst and best in themselves, their men and each other, in the race to conquer the South Pole.

As the play shows, as it unfolds at the Marine Theatre in Lyme Regis, Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott were very different heroes from a time when the world had just one remaining unknown to be conquered.

This dramatic adaptation of the diaries uses the actual words written by the competing explorers between 1910 and 1912, powerfully retold by two actors. The play starts with preparations for the journey and ends in victory for just one team. But could the other cope with being the last south'? And what was the tragic fate of the team that came second?

David Burt plays Captain Robert Falcon Scott. He has played many RSC, National and West End roles in plays and musicals, including in the first cast of Les Misérables.

Christian Olliver plays Roald Amundsen. His stage credits include The 39 Steps in the West End, Loyalties at the Finborough, and as Iago in Othello at Broadway Theatre.

Lyme resident and Marine Theatre patron Chris Avory saw the play at the Edinburgh Festival and hails it as the best of the 30 or so shows I saw there'.

He said: "Part of its success is down to the quality of the actors, because they are substantial performers and that makes a huge difference.

"It is also a fascinating story and shows the real contrasts between the characters of the two men, plus the fact that one was successful and the other almost a heroic failure. It was amazing that Scott's journal was even found, but it does show the slow disintegration of his expedition."

As well as the strength of the cast, The Last South also holds its audience through its powerful atmosphere.

"It is very emotional," added Chris. "It is powerful and moving and beautifully acted and you get totally caught up in their world. Sitting in a darkened theatre, you actually feel like you are at the base in the Antarctic."

The Last South is at the Marine Theatre, Lyme Regis on Sunday, May 18 at 7pm. Tickets are £10 plus concessions from the box office on 01297 442138.