Madeleine's Performing Arts: Glass Eels

Written by Nell Leyshon
It was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on July 2003
The play has also been performed on stage at the Hampstead Theatre in 2007
It is the second part of a planned quartet of Somerset plays covering the four seasonsthe first being the award winning Comfort Me with Apples.
The play is set on the Somerset Levels one August, probably on the River Parrett.
While it explores a young girl's sexual awakening, and her acceptance of past loss, it also concerns eel fishing and a dying rural way of life.

Synopsis

Late August down on the Somerset levels: deep in the water and the silt, something is moving, unfurling...
Suffused with the austere poetry of the West Country, Glass Eels tells the story of a girl's sexual awakening as she struggles to free herself from the shadows of her childhood and the stifling atmosphere of an all-male household.

What are Glass Eels?

Glass Eels are a very young eel.
They are the type of eel that comes after the new born larvae.
Glass eels are see through like glass.
Glass eels have black beady eyes like pepper corns.

The Writer

Born in Glastonbury
Lives in Dorset
Attended the University of Southampton gaining a first in English Literature
Leyshon writes regularly for Radio 4 and 3.

The Characters

Lily - a young girl struggling living in an all male household, going through a sexual awakening
Mervyn - Lily's Father, widdowed, and undertaker
Harold - Lily's Grandfather, arthritic, retiered undertaker
Kenneth - a Family Friend, quiet, builds empathy for Lily
Julie - Mervyn girlfriend