A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

The Skriker

Full-Length Play, Drama  /  9w, 7m

Drawing from British folklore, the eminent English playwright drops the Skriker, an ageless shapeshifter, into contemporary London.

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    9w, 7m
  • Duration
    Duration
    105 Minutes
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Fantasy
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult

Details

Summary
Drawing from British folklore, the eminent English playwright drops the Skriker, an ageless shapeshifter, into contemporary London. There she haunts two young women, one who is pregnant and one who is suspected of killing her child. While neither innocence nor shrewdness is effective against the ubiquitous Skriker as she appears in forms ranging from a petulant child to a barfly, the line between victim and predator is cloudy and even the language mutates in this startling fantasy.

FEE: $100 per performance.

Shipping note: This title will ship from an alternate warehouse and additional shipping and handling charges may apply. This title is available as a pre-pay item only and may not be returned or exchanged. Purchase Orders will not be accepted for this title.

History

The Skriker premiered at the Royal National Theatre in London in January 1994 under the direction of Les Waters.

Keywords
THE SKRIKER
JOSIE
LILY
PASSERBY
YALLERY BROWN
BLACK DOG
KELPIE / FAIR FAIRY
GREEN LADY / JENNIE GREENTEETH
GIRL WITH TELESCOPE / LOST GIRL
HAG / WOMAN WITH KELPIE
BOGLE / RAWHEADANDBLOODYBONES / DARK FAIRY
BROWNIE / RADIANT BOY
MAN WITH BUCKET / NELLIE LONG ARMS
SPRIGGAN
GRANDDAUGHTER / BLACK ANNIS
GREAT-GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTER / DEAD CHILD
  • Additional Features No intermission
  • Duration 105 Minutes

Media

REVIEWS 

"Astonishing.... This portrait of a London haunted by gremlins ... turns the familiar into a hall of terrors.... Like the best fairy tales, it directly addresses the darker passages of the unconsciousness.... Ms. Churchill's most unsettling indictment yet of an incurably diseased world." - The New York Times

"Nutty ... science fiction for the James Joyce set.... A phantasmagoria about death and damage." - New York Post

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: $110 per performance

Scripts

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Authors

Caryl Churchill

Caryl Churchill was born on 3 September 1938 in London and grew up in the Lake District and in Montreal. She was educated at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. Downstairs, her first play written while she was still at university, was first staged in 1958 and won an award at the Sund ...

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