The Sea (play)

The Sea is a play written by the English dramatist Edward Bond in 1973. It is a comedy set in a small village in rural East Anglia in the Edwardian period. The play draws on some of the themes of Shakespeare's The Tempest.

The play is set in 1907 in an East Anglian seaside community and begins with a tempestuous storm. A well known and loved member of the community dies at sea, and the play explores the reactions of the villagers and the attempts by two young lovers to break away from the constraints of the hierarchical, and sometimes insane, society. At the same time, the draper of the city gets mad while struggling with the town's "First Lady" and believing that aliens from another planet have arrived to invade the city, personified through the best friend of the drowned man.

The play was originally produced at the Royal Court Theatre on 22 May 1973, directed by William Gaskill and last produced in Britain by the 1812 Theatre Company in Helmsley.

In New York, the play was produced Off-Broadway by The Actors Company Theatre (TACT) in 2007.

References

• Edward Bond: Bond Plays: 2, Methuen, 1978. ISBN 0-413-39270-8