The Illinois State University School of Theatre and Dance will present Selkie: Between Land and Sea by Laurie Brooks, beginning April 16 and running through April 25 in the University’s Westhoff Theatre.
Opening weekend performances will be at 7:30 p.m. April 16, 17, and 18, with a 2 p.m. matinee on April 19. The show will continue the following week at 7:30 p.m. April 22, 23, 24, and 25. There will be two school performances at 10 a.m. April 22 and 24. The closing performance on April 25 will have American Sign Language interpreted for the hearing-impaired.
Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students and seniors, and can be purchased at the College of Fine Arts Box Office, located in the Center for the Performing Arts; by phone at (309) 438-2535; or online at ticketmaster.com. Special group rates are also available by contacting the ticket office.
Selkie: Between Land and Sea, takes audiences to the fabled Scottish isles of Orkney to tell the mystical tale of Elin Jean, the one called “Selkie Girl.” Outcast from her peers for her physical differences, Elin longs to find her place of belonging and seeks friendship in the wanderer boy, Tam. But Elin Jean is pulled by the strangely familiar call of the sea and is captivated by the magical creatures, the selkies, who live within the water’s depths. When she discovers a selkie pelt hidden away by her father, the secrets of her past reveal themselves, and she finds herself faced with the choice to either turn her back on her kind or embrace the truth of who she really is—“the one foretold.”
“Laurie Brooks’ extraordinary play,” comments director Jessika Malone, MFA directing candidate at Illinois State, “offers audiences the unique opportunity to journey to a realm of magical realism with a courageous young protagonist who ultimately discovers a beautiful truth: ‘Belonging is not a place—it’s inside you.’ Through the use of lyrical storytelling, shadow-play, dance, music and more, the story of Elin Jean will delight audiences of all ages.”
