Set in 1907, The Sea depicts a small coastal village in East Anglia, sharply divided between ruthless order and rampant chaos. After a beloved resident of the village drowns in a storm at sea, the differing reactions of the villagers reveal a community torn apart by disputes and disorder. Willy Carson, the survivor of the tragic boating accident, stays in the village to grieve for his friend and finds himself entrapped within a hierarchical community presided over by the domineering Mrs. Rafi. Mrs. Rafi lives in the big house and represents order and respectability, surrounding herself with the twittering ladies of the village. Leading the official grieving, she finds herself at odds with the local draper, Hatch, who is continuously rebuffed and put out of pocket by the Grande Dame. Eccentric, or possibly even deranged, Hatch believes that aliens have infiltrated the village from another planet. He identifies Willy Carson’s sudden appearance in the village as proof of the aliens’ arrival and establishes a taskforce to spy on Willy and the wise village drunk, Evens. In a mad rage, Hatch feverishly attacks the washed up corpse of the drowned man with a knife, mistakenly believing it to be Willy sleeping on the beach. In the middle of this madness, Willy encounters Rose Jones, the fiancée of his dead companion. United in their grief, the couple begin to realize that their only hope of moving forwards is to escape from the claustrophobic community and make a life somewhere else. Evens tells Willy he will never find the answers he seeks in the village, and so Willy and Rose board a train and leave the chaos and bitterness far behind.
Edward Bond was born and educated in London. After completing his National Service with the Army (part of the occupation forces stationed in Vienna), and then various jobs, he joined the Playwright’s Workshop at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in June 1958, and his first play, ‘The Pope’s Wedding’, was staged in 1962. He has subsequently written ‘Saved’, ‘Narrow Road To The Deep North’ (presented by TWC in November 1970), ‘Early Morning’, ‘Lear’, and ‘Bingo’. His adaptation of Frank Wedekind’s play ‘Spring Awakening’ was staged by the National Theatre in May 1974 directed by Peter Hall. He has also worked on a number of film screenplays, including ‘Blow Up’, ‘Walkabout’ and ‘Nicholas and Alexandra’.
‘The Sea’ was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre on 22 May 1973, with a cast that included Ian Holm (as Hatch) Diana Quick as Rose Jones and Coral Browne as Mrs Rafi, and directed by William Gaskill. By special arrangement with the author, Theatre Workshop Coulsdon is the first amateur company to perform the play.
