The Sea is a 1973 play by Edward Bond. It is a comedy set in a small seaside village in rural East Anglia during the Edwardian period and draws from some of the themes of Shakespeare's The Tempest. It was well-received by critics. Plot summary Set in 1907, the play begins with a tempestuous storm in which a well-known and loved member of the community drowns. It then explores the reactions of the villagers and the attempts by two young lovers to break away from the constraints of the hierarchical, and sometimes irrational, society. At the same time, the town's draper struggles with abuse and bullying from the town's "First Lady", Mrs. Rafi. Believing that aliens from another planet have arrived to invade the city, he had refused to help the drowning man's friend's attempts to save him and eventually goes stark raving mad. Original production The play was originally produced at the Royal Court Theatre on 22 May 1973, directed by William Gaskill. Willy Carson - Simon Rouse Evens - Alan Webb Hatch - Ian Holm Hollarcut - Mark McManus Vicar - Jeremy Wilkin Carter - Anthony Langdon Thompson - Simon Cord Louise Rafi - Coral Browne Rose Jones - Diana Quick Jessica Tilehouse - Gillian Martell Mafanwy Price - Susan Williamson Jilly - Adrienne Byrne Rachel - Barbara Ogilvy Davis - Margaret Lawley Revivals In 1991 it was produced by the National Theatre, directed by Sam Mendes, with Judi Dench as Mrs. Rafi and Ken Stott as Hatch. In 2000, Sean Holmes directed a production at The Minerva Theatre Chichester, with Susan Engel as Mrs. Rafi and Michael Gould as Hatch. In 2008, Jonathan Kent produced the play at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, with Eileen Atkins as Mrs. Rafi and David Haig as Hatch. This production was reviewed positively in Evening Standard. It was also produced by the 1812 Theatre Company at Helmsley Arts Centre in Helmsley, Yorkshire in 2009. It was produced by Eva Holmes in 2014, with Fiona Reid's performance as Louise Rafi highly praised in The Buffalo News and Toronto Star. In 2007, in a New York production Off-Broadway, The Actors Company Theatre (TACT) staged the play. Reception Ann Marie Demling wrote in 1983 that The Sea enjoyed popular and critical acclaim, and that in the play, Bond "most clearly and articulately expresses a vision that was only suggested in The Pope's Wedding and Saved."