Duncan Harley

“Ask not the price of fish, for it is measured in men’s lives” runs the old adage and even today fishermen in the UK are exposed to an accident rate several times that of construction workers. Many fatalities are attributed to men going overboard. Often no burial is possible and the bereaved are left without closure. As a troubling take on the ultimate price of fish, Lost at Sea scores highly. The best in writing often comes from personal experience and playwright Morna Young’s pedigree includes a father swept from the deck of the trawler Ardent II in 1989 and with only the ocean for a grave. In this new and important play Sofia McLean plays Shona, a young journalist, returning to her roots and determined to unravel the mystery surrounding the death of her dad, Jock. Played ably by Ali Craig, Jock has died some decades previous to the action and those who saw him swept away are loath to speak of the dead. At the heart of the matter, alongside the mystery that surrounds...

With thanks to Rachel Campbell - Aberdeen Performing Arts A brand-new production of Morna Young’s epic fishing drama Lost at Sea will come to His Majesty’s Theatre this coming May.    Inspired by the loss of her fisherman father, Morna Young’s personal tribute to the fishing communities of Scotland comes to His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen (Thursday 9 until Saturday 11 May), as part of a Scotland wide tour. A storm is brewing in a small fishing village. A young woman returns home, searching for answers about her father's death. But as she begins to weave together the strands of her past, a mysterious force unravels family secrets. Lost at Sea journeys through a labyrinth of myth and memory in an epic tale spanning forty years of the fishing industry. Featuring the voices of fishermen and their families in their own words – with music, songs and Scots language – Lost at Sea is the lyrical and powerfully evocative story of a North-East fishing family. With m...