Selkie: Study Guide By Laurie Brooks

Directed by Amelia Hensley

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Gallaudet University Theatre Arts Production

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I feel so honored for the opportunity to direct Selkie! I picked this play, because I felt a strong connection with Ellen Jean, the main character. Ellen Jean is ashamed of her webbed arms and people insult her and make fun of her for being different.

I can relate to Ellen Jean, because I grew up with scars on my face. People will often ask me “What happened to your face?” I was attacked by a dog when I was two years old. Basically, I feel like I was born with the scars, just like Ellen Jean who was born with webbed arms.

Ellen Jean couldn’t understand why happened to her. Ellen Jean wants to make friends and fit in, but people gawk at her instead. I can relate to that experience.

People have the tendency to place value on our appearances, instead of what’s inside us. In addition to my scars, I am also deaf. Members of the hearing community think I’m different, but when in reality, I’m just like them.

I am sending a message to the audience through Selkie. Look at what’s inside Ellen Jean, because that’s what really matters.

A Letter from The Director of Selkie

Laurie Brooks is a well-known writer. She has written several plays for young audiences and books for young adults. Other than Selkie, Laurie has written more than thirteen plays! Her plays have been very popular. Laurie has won a lot of important awards for her plays. Her plays have been performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Ireland, and in Salt Lake City, Utah. Laurie is a very important name in the theatre world, because when she started writing plays, there were not a lot of plays for young audiences. Her work made a lot of people realize that young people enjoyed watching plays too.

In 1998, Laurie wrote Selkie. To write the play, Laurie did a lot of research. Some of the research involved traveling to the Orkney Islands in Scotland. Laurie enjoyed talking to the people of the Orkney Islands about selkies. The people there were excited to share stories about selkies, because selkies are an important part of their history and folkore. Selkie turned out to be such a popular play that Laurie decided to use Selkie as an inspiration for one of her most recent books,

About the Playwright

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Selkie: About the Play What happens when a magical seal comes

on land and turns into a beautiful dancing woman? What happens when a man sees the dancing woman and falls in love her? What would happen if the woman's magical seal skin is stolen?

Selkie is a play about a selkie who has her magical seal pelt taken away from her. Without her magical seal pelt, the woman cannot return to her home under the sea. Instead of going back to her home, the selkie is stuck living with her new husband in a little farmhouse in Scotland. They have a child named Ellen Jean. As a hint of her mother's selkie background, Ellen Jean is born with webbed hands. Ellen Jean is embarrassed of her hands. Soon, she finds out the truth about her webbed hands and her mother's mysterious background. The truth comes with a difficult choice for Ellen Jean.

Selkie: Cast of Characters

Pa- Duncan’s father, a kind-hearted fisherman

Margaret- The beautiful selkie woman whose pelt was stolen by Duncan. Married to Duncan and the mother of Ellen Jean

Duncan- A crofter (farmer) who loves Margaret. He stole Margaret’s pelt. Ellen Jean’s Father

Ellen Jean- A young teenage girl. Daughter of Duncan and Margaret. She is often teased about her webbed arms, something she was born with

Tam- A young traveling gypsy boy. He is very mischievous

Black Hair- One of the selkie women, Margaret’s sister

Red Hair- Another selkie woman, also Margaret’s sister

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Selkie is set in Scotland. Scotland is a country in Europe. The borders of Scotland touch both the North Sea and the Atlantic Sea. Above the northern coast of Scotland, there is a group of about 70 islands. Those islands are known as the Orkney Islands.

People only live on the 16 of those islands. Most of those islands are too small for humans. Those small rocky islands are called “skerries”. People who live in Orkney are called Orcadians. The play happens in a small fishing village in Orkney.

Most of the people living in Orkney make their living by working in farming, fishing, or tourism. Some people also make a living by harvesting peat and working in limestone quarries.

The temperature in Orkney ranges from 39 Fahrenheit in winter and 54 Fahrenheit in the summer. It is also very windy. It has been recorded that Orkney gets 54 hours of gales every year!

The waters of Orkney are full of many different forms of marine life such as seals, sea birds, whales, otters, and and dolphins. As a matter of fact, the seals have acted as a source of inspiration for the legend of Selkies!

Selkie: The Setting

Fun Facts about Scotland!

• There are 790 islands in Scotland • Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland • Scotland's national symbol is the thistle • Scotland's official animal is the unicorn • Edinburgh was the first city in the world to have it's

own fire department • Scottish Fold cats are originally from Scotland

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Folkore is very important to the people of Orkney. They often tell stories of magical things happening around them such as seals.

There are very many seals living in the waters surrounding the Orkney Islands. A lot of the time, when people saw the seals swimming in the water, they thought that the seal heads looked like the heads of curious swimming people. The people of Orkney believed that a lot of those seals were actually Selkies.

Selkies are special magical creatures. They look like seals, but they have the magical ability of turning into humans. To turn into a human, the selkie will climb onto land and take their seal pelts off. If a Selkie lost her pelt, she would be stuck in her human form. The only way a selkie could change back to their original seal form is if they got their pelt back.

Many fairy tales from Orkney are about Selkies who were tricked into staying as humans, because they lost their pelt. Since they were unable to go back home, the selkies would have to marry and spend the rest of their lives living unhappily as humans.

The Legend of Selkies

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Seals: The Inspiration for Selkies Seals are mammals that live in the water all over the world. You can find seals living in polar regions, tropical regions like Hawaii, and everywhere in between. Seals are very skilled swimmers. In an average seal's lifetime, it will swim thousands of miles! Seals also can spend a hour diving underwater without coming up for air. This helps seals to be better hunters, since they eat fish and other marine life such as mussels and crabs. Seals are excellent swimmers, because they have flippers instead of hands. The flippers allow the seals to travel smoothly through water.

Seals are very clumsy on land, since their bodies are better designed for the water. Seals come on land for three reasons. They come ashore to breed, give birth, and raise their young. They also come on land to molt, which means that they shed their old fur for a new coat of fur. Seals also come onshore to take breaks from long trips underwater.

In all, there are 33 different kinds of seals. If you visited Scotland, you would be most likely to see Atlantic grey seals. They look a bit different from other seals, because their snouts are longer. Other seals' noses look more like dogs' snouts. Grey seals are very curious and they often will watch people. Their watching heads peeking out of the water fascinated the people of the Orkney Islands. They thought their curious eyes looked a lot like humans, so they decided that those seals were magical creatures called selkies.

Fun Seal Facts

• Since seals have flippers instead of feet, they are called “pinnipeds”

• Seals sleep underwater • Seals eat a lot! If you were a seal, you'd

eat about 50 hamburgers a day! • Seals and sea lions are two different

animals • Seals do not bark. • Baby seals are called “pups” • Pups can swim shortly after being born

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Different Types of Seals

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More Mythical Creatures of Scotland Scotland has many stories about imaginary and magical creatures. Here are

some mythical creatures from Scotland!

The Loch Ness Monster is one of Scotland’s most well known mythical creatures. The monster has been nicknamed Nessie. Some people believe that Nessie lives in a large lake known as Loch Ness. The story first started in 1933 when a man took a picture of a monster in the water. The picture was found to be a fake, but many people still

Brownies are very popular in Scotland. Brownies share homes with humans. They will often help with cleaning and other household jobs. Brownies are also very shy. They prefer to work alone, so they will hide and wait until everyone in the house is sleeping. Some houses will leave an empty seat by the fireplace for brownies. Others will leave thank you gifts such as food for the brownies!

Fairies are small and tricky creatures. They live in special grassy hills called knolls. The Fairy Queen wears green and rides a horse with a braided mane. Some people believe that there are two kinds of fairies in Scotland. Seelies are supposed to be nice and helpful. They will help people with different things such as fixing their roofs. Unseelies are wicked. They will hurt people and animals. Fairies are easier to see on Midsummer’s Eve.

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Midsummer’s Eve: Why is it special?

Midsummer is a special celebration that happens once a year. The celebration happens on the summer solstice. It usually happens around June the 24th. Solstice happens twice a year, when the sun is farthest away from earth. Midsummer is also the longest day of the year.

Midsummer's eve is a national holiday in many parts of Northern Europe such as Sweden and Finland. Midsummer’s even is also a very important holiday in Scotland. The very first Midsummer’s eve celebration in Scotland happened in the 16th century! For Midsummer, people will decorate their houses with St John’s wort, white lilies, and fennel. People will also gather around huge bonfires to dance, sing, eat, and drink. Some of those bonfires are fueled by peat.

Midsummer's eve is considered a special time of the year, because fairies and other magical creatures are easier to see. A common myth is that if a person picks fern seeds at midnight and rubs the fern seeds on their eyelids, they will be able to see fairies! Fairies love to play tricks on people. To protect yourself from those tricky fairies, you are supposed to carry rue in your pockets. People can also turn their pockets inside out to keep tricky fairies away!

Plants used for Midsummer’s Eve

St John’s Wort White Lilies Rue Fern Seeds

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Peat: Decayed vegetable matter such as moss, usually found in bogs and used as fertilizer or fuel

Lass: A young woman

Gawking: To stare stupidly

Daft: Silly, foolish, or crazy

Crofthouse: Scottish for farmhouse

Bannock: Flat bread made with barley or oatmeal

Dissauded: To beg someone and stop them from doing something

Limpets: Sea creatures with cone-shaped shells that cling to rocks in tidal areas

Clan: A group of people sharing common ancestors

Driftwood: A piece of wood floating on or washed ashore by the sea.

Bairn: Scottish word for child

Pox: a viral disease usually causes little bumps on the skin

Gypsy: Nomadic settlers with roots tracing back to India

Words found in The Script for Selkie

Words You’d Find in Orkney The people of Orkney Island have their own dialect. This means they speak differently. The way they talk is not shared by any other group of people! Here are some interesting words that you would only hear if you visited Orkney.

Biggit: built Blide: happy, pleased Gablo: a beetle Koad: pillow Maet: food Plitter: to play about in water; a watery mess (like the picture on the right) These sentences are examples of what an Orcadian would say. Can you guess what they’re saying? “Ah'll see ye the morn's morneen.” Translation: I'll see you tomorrow morning.

“I got pat home fae the sceul whayn I telt the teacher thit I hid an aafil sore puggy.” Translation: I was sent home from school after telling the teacher I had a very sore stomach

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Crossword Puzzle: Selkie

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Across

2. A piece of wood you'd find on the beach

6. Travelling people who are originally from India

7. People who share the same ancestors

11. A gift of money given at a wedding

12. They have cone-shaped shells

14. A young woman

15. Different meaning for crazy or foolish

Down

1. Scottish word for farm

2. To beg and stop someone from doing something

3. Where Selkie takes place

4. Ellen Jean's father

5. Selkies look like this

8. A Disease that affects the skin

9. The main character of Selkie

10. Ellen Jean's gypsy friend

13. Often found in bogs and used as fuel

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Invent Your Own Mythical Creature Now that you’ve learned about selkies and other mythical creatures of Scotland, it’s time to invent your own mythical creature!

Name of your creature?

Where does it live?

What does it eat?

Is it scared of anything?

Does it have magic powers?

What does it look like? Draw a picture in the box below!

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Discussion Questions

If you could turn into a selkie, would you want to become a selkie? What would you do all day? What would you eat?

Selkies are magical seals that can transform into people. Can you think of any other stories about magical creatures?

Why did Duncan take the selkie's pelt? How did that make Margaret feel?

Margaret misses the ocean and her selkie family. Have you ever been away from your home and/or family? How did it feel?

Ellen Jean has webbed hands and she is embarrassed of them. What could she have done about her hands instead of cutting the webs?

How did Ellen Jean find the selkie pelt? How did she feel when she found it?

Selkie has a moral behind it. What do you think the moral is? Why?

The people in Selkie speak a different type of language. How is that similar to people who use Sign Language?

Why did Ellen Jean choose to go to the ocean? Would you have done the same? Why or why not?

Gallaudet University Theatre Arts Program Director: Ethan Sinnott

Contact: Juanita Cebe

800 Florida Avenue NE Washington, DC 20002

www.gallaudettheatre.com

TTY: 202-651-5502

Voice: 202-651-5501

Fax: 202-651-5968

Email: Juanita.Cebe@gallaudet.edu

Upcoming Productions at Gallaudet

Alice: A Lost Soul Adapted and directed by Jessica Willoughby

April 11-14 and April 18-21

The Lady Becomes Him (With Faction of Fools) Devised and directed by Toby Mulford. ! Based on the scenario Donna Zanni. Gallaudet University Apr 18 – May 12, 2013

www.factionoffools.org