A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

Sea Marks

Full-Length Play, Drama  /  1w, 1m

Winner! Los Angeles Drama Critics' Circle Best Play Award

“Utterly Winning” – New York Magazine
“Funny, Touching, Well Crafted” – The Associated Press
"A masterpiece." - Tribune, Worcester, Mass

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    1w, 1m
  • Duration
    Duration
    90 minutes
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Not Applicable
  • Suggested Use
    • Cutting Approved for Competition
    • Monologues
    • Scene work
    • Competition or audition material
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Appropriate for all audiences, Adult, Senior, Teen (Age 14 - 18)
Accolades
Accolades
  • Winner! Los Angeles Drama Critics' Circle Award, Best Play
    Winner! Canadian National Regional Theatre Award

Details

Summary

This is the touching story of a fisherman living on a remote Irish island who has fallen in love with a woman he's glimpsed only once. Unschooled in letter writing, he tries his utmost to court by mail and after a year and a half succeeds in arranging a rendezvous at which, to his surprise, she persuades him to live with her in Liverpool. Their love affair ends when he is forced to return to a life he understands.

From the author: "If this play is about anything, it might be about knowing our place. Especially in liquid times, when we can easily flow wherever, and seemingly become whatever. To hold a way of life, something secretly treasured, maybe without knowing it, has become and obsolete idea, now called stagnation. But being mobile, trading up, "bettering yourself" is a respectable life's work, while other, simpler concerns are postponed."

History

Sea Marks was first presented by Dana Matthow and Debroah Matthow at The Players Theatre, New York City. It was directed by John Stix. The play has subsequently been produced in New York City in Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway productions; as well as the Eisenhower Theatre, Kennedy Center in Washington, DC; productions throughout the United States and Canada, and Europe. The play was also presented in 1993 at the Edinburgh Festival.

COLM PRIMROSE - An Irish fisherman from the western islands
TIMOTHEA STILES - a lady, not much younger than Colm, who was once from Wales.

Colm can be played realistically between the ages of 35 and 65. Loneliness, or aloneness, is not exclusive. Timothea should not be younger than her late 20's. Her age should rise proportionately to his, or his to hers, but not above her mid-fifties. Occasionally, Timothea lapses into a strong, Welsh country accent; rich, rhythmic sounds coming from vaguely the same Celtic origins as Colm’s Irish. She works in Liverpool, to her mind “only halfway to London.” Colm’s dialect is the calm, songing accent of the west. Colm is a laborer not a yachtsman. Overall, less is more. These accents, fully done, might act as a soporific to certain audiences.

  • Time Period Contemporary, Present Day
  • Features Contemporary Costumes / Street Clothes
  • Additional Features Play w/ Music
  • Duration 90 minutes
  • Cautions
    • Alcohol
    • Mild Adult Themes

Media

“High Marks for Sea Marks” – Walter Kerr, THE New York Times

“Utterly Winning” – New York Magazine

“Funny, Touching, Well Crafted” –  The Associated Press

"[Sea Marks] stands apart not just for its two strong performances but for the sheer beauty of its language... McKay...writes with what seems like a deep understanding of Irish culture and of the men and women who populate some of its lonely shores." - TheatreMania

“Unabashedly Romantic. A first Rate Production.” -Newsday

"A masterpiece." - Tribune, Worcester, Mass.

"There's abundant humor, surprisingly honest humor, that grows between two...people who love each other but whose lives simply cannot be fused...It could easily last forever in actors' classrooms and audition studios." - The New Yorker

"Deserves the fame it has achieved in regional theaters around the country." - Albany Times Union

Music

  • Musical Style N/A (Not a musical)
  • Vocal DemandsN/A (Not a musical)

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: $110 per performance

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Authors

Gardner McKay

George Cadogan Gardner McKay (1932-2001) was born in Manhattan, New York City. His early years were spent in France, Connecticut and Kentucky. At age 15, he published his first story. He attended Cornell University, where he edited the humor magazine, wrote a film review colu ...

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