the selkie: part sitcom, part soap, part supernatural.
THE SELKIE was a runner-up in the BBC Radio 4 Alfred Bradley Award, I rewrote it for the stage with five songs, put to music and performed by The Keelers on stage or sung by Katie Doherty as the Selkie.
Set on the North-East coast in a present-day dysfunctional family, The Selkie blends ancient northern myth, magical transformation, drama, comedy, music and song.
(SCROLL DOWN FOR REVIEWS)
Roanne, an overweight, overwhelmed, underappreciated wife and mother, beset with a stroppy teen, a sick dad, and a fishing-mad husband, becomes strangely drawn to the sea and the seals that she sees there. Is there a connection to the long-ago death of her mother by drowning? Can she find freedom when so many depend on her? Gradually she comes to believe that she is a Selkie, torn between the sea where she belongs, and the family who need her. The Selkie legend is of seal people who came ashore, and could cast off their skins and live as humans - but the sea was always calling them back. SEE PRODUCTION PHOTOS HERE
Commissioned & performed by Cloud Nine, premiered at Sage Gateshead then toured the north including Whitby, York, Hexham & Berwick.
PRESS REVIEWS:
'I watched Valerie Laws' play, enchanted by this story, amused by its mix of northern charm and wit and was blown away by the live performances of The Keelers and Katie Doherty ... this was a beautifully sound-tracked, modern take on an old myth.' Hayley Forbes, The Crack
Szalay is totally believable as a woman veering wildly between love and resentment for her family. There are some great performances in this play but Szalay is just compelling as Roanne struggles to find answers to her turmoil and answer the mournful selkie's call.'
Barbara Hodgson, The Journal
'...homegrown (i.e. North-Eastern) drama at its best... Emotions mix well with drama, pathos
and humour and some beautiful music to make this a drama certainly worth netting.'
Linda Douglas, Evening Chronicle
'Valerie Laws has updated the fishermen's folk story to modern day Whitley Bay and written a clever and highly enjoyable tale that encompasses three generations of working class Selkies... There are some nice twists and turns in the storyline and Neil Armstrong's direction with a minimalist set ensures the piece zips along.' Ed Waugh, The Shields Gazette
Set on the North-East coast in a present-day dysfunctional family, The Selkie blends ancient northern myth, magical transformation, drama, comedy, music and song.
(SCROLL DOWN FOR REVIEWS)
Roanne, an overweight, overwhelmed, underappreciated wife and mother, beset with a stroppy teen, a sick dad, and a fishing-mad husband, becomes strangely drawn to the sea and the seals that she sees there. Is there a connection to the long-ago death of her mother by drowning? Can she find freedom when so many depend on her? Gradually she comes to believe that she is a Selkie, torn between the sea where she belongs, and the family who need her. The Selkie legend is of seal people who came ashore, and could cast off their skins and live as humans - but the sea was always calling them back. SEE PRODUCTION PHOTOS HERE
Commissioned & performed by Cloud Nine, premiered at Sage Gateshead then toured the north including Whitby, York, Hexham & Berwick.
PRESS REVIEWS:
'I watched Valerie Laws' play, enchanted by this story, amused by its mix of northern charm and wit and was blown away by the live performances of The Keelers and Katie Doherty ... this was a beautifully sound-tracked, modern take on an old myth.' Hayley Forbes, The Crack
Szalay is totally believable as a woman veering wildly between love and resentment for her family. There are some great performances in this play but Szalay is just compelling as Roanne struggles to find answers to her turmoil and answer the mournful selkie's call.'
Barbara Hodgson, The Journal
'...homegrown (i.e. North-Eastern) drama at its best... Emotions mix well with drama, pathos
and humour and some beautiful music to make this a drama certainly worth netting.'
Linda Douglas, Evening Chronicle
'Valerie Laws has updated the fishermen's folk story to modern day Whitley Bay and written a clever and highly enjoyable tale that encompasses three generations of working class Selkies... There are some nice twists and turns in the storyline and Neil Armstrong's direction with a minimalist set ensures the piece zips along.' Ed Waugh, The Shields Gazette
