As dramas
such as Poldark hit record viewing numbers it is clear period dramas which
offer adventure, romance and wild landscapes could be as popular on stage as they are on screen.
Bev Clark’s
new drama When the Dark Sea Cries,
takes us to fishing village on the coast of North Somerset circa 1850s, where a
tempest is raging in the Bristol Channel and the men of the fishing village are
all out at sea. The women folk remain waiting…. and this play is about eight
women in particular.
The main
protagonist is Kate Martyn a woman in her mid-thirties who has three young
sons, one who is deaf and out in the storm with his father. Kate, though poor
and illiterate is strong-minded and sharp-witted. Her older sister Marianne who
has been married twenty years has no children and now shares a secret with her
sister.
.
Their mother Ma Bess has already been widowed by the sea and fears this
storm will bring more tragedy. Emily Tavener is wife to Jack, one of the
skippers and mother to some of the crew. She is a woman nursing her own grief
already. Bryony, Tilly and Lizzie are the younger girls who each have family on
the boats and as the matriarch - Old Susan with her philosophy and experience
watches over all the women of the village, a story unfolds in the space of one
long night.
Into this
storm-battered dwelling comes Dr Richard Trelawney an Irishman travelling from
Bristol who has lost his way. Susan believes his arrival is providence for
indeed he is able to give some help to the group of women but for Kate it
heralds the beginning of a new chapter in her life.
A violent
storm brings them a miracle but also a tragedy… yet hope for new beginnings. Originally
inspired by a quote from the poet Ted Hughes
“The sea cries with its
meaningless voice treating alike its dead and its living…”
This one-act
drama offers a cast of eight female characters, one male and one teenage boy.
Ideal for a festival play it is now available on Amazon.com Licence available
from www.scripts4stage.com
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