The Boy Who Thought He Could Swim
by David McNeish

What do you do when your child is convinced they are a selkie – part human, part seal?

This new play by David McNeish plunges the audience into the dilemmas of an island family trying to make sense of life when it’s not only the sea that’s cruel. When Lizzie and Gavin move back to Orkney from the Western Isles, things were supposed to get easier, for them and for Malcolm their teenager. Malcolm’s insistence on being a selkie leads to ever more serious consequences until there is no hiding it from the neighbours. But how do you help a child who insists they are not your child? All is not well beside the seaside.

Featuring newly commissioned animations by Eilidh Nicoll and directed by Beth Morton, The Boy Who Thought He Could Swim is David McNeish’s second full length play. His first, Thora, about the mother of St Magnus, was performed in the St Magnus Festival in June 2023. It received four star reviews, with Joyce MacMillan commenting: “ the spirit of his play, captured by this fine company is as defiant as that of his imagined Thora herself.”

This performance will be a rehearsed reading of the play with audience feedback encouraged. Themes include identity, disability, gossip and bullying.

An Unlimited UK Partner Award 2023 commission with An Tobar and Mull Theatre, made possible thanks to funding from Creative Scotland.