LOST TO THE SEA is an original story with live music, singing and poetry, written and performed by Annie Sheppard, with cello from Agnes Keplinger.Two stories are woven together, both anchored in specific coastal landscapes. They explore themes of trauma and grief, mental health, and displacement. While geographically they are many miles apart, these rugged places are gradually revealed to be connected in both visible and invisible ways. On the Jurassic coast of Dorset, a grieving mother struggles to come to terms with her loss. An obsession with a sea green stone, takes her on an emotional journey involving a bargain with the sea and an ancient stone oracle. Her life becomes entwined and enmeshed with a mysterious figure who floats in and out of her dreams. In parallel we hear the story rooted in an ancient Orkney mythology, of a young woman abducted by a fin-man, an evil sorcerer, and kept prisoner in a land beneath the sea, wondering if she will ever escape his dark power. As these two stories interweave, occasionally touching, we get glimpses of an invisible and magical in-between world.Ultimately, Lost to the Sea is the story of the strength of the human spirit, a journey of hope and healing.
