An ancient Celtic myth explodes in the centre of a modern Canadian family in this strikingly original drama by Kelley Jo Burke.
When Mary gets a surprise visit from her old friend Gen, we learn that Mary has a secret that could threaten her life with husband Cal and teenage daughter Brigit.
No ordinary secret, this. As it turns out, Mary is a ÒselkieÓÑa seal who sheds her skin to mate with a human male, then returns to the water with her offspring. But Mary, happy with Cal, decided to stay on land. And now, twenty years later, Gen has come to take her back into the water.
Accompanying Gen is Dylan, her vital young seal lover (in human form), whose animal attraction to Brigit is immediately evident. In a very short time, the ordinary world Mary has built is turned upside-down.
The situation is ripe for laughter, and there are moments of uproarious comedy throughout the play. But BurkeÕs themes are serious, and the questions her characters face go to very the essence of their lives; The Selkie Wife is a dramatic meditation about love and sex, about freedom and oppression, about making concessions and making choices.

Kelley Jo Burke is an award-winning Regina playwright, creative nonfiction writer and documentarian, a professor of theatre and creative-writing, and was for many years host of CBC Radio's SoundXchange. The 2017 winner (with composer Jeffery Straker) of Playwright Guild of Canada's national Best New Musical Award for Us, which premiered at the Globe Theatre 2018, and a new musical The Curst will premiere at Dancing Sky Theatre, May, 2020. Recent plays include The Lucky Ones (Dancing Sky Theatre), The Selkie Wife (Scirocco) and Ducks on the Moon (Hagios). Her published work includes four books, inclusion in four more collections, many periodicals, and her broadcasts include eight creative nonfiction documentaries for CBC's IDEAS. She was the 2009 winner of the Sask. Lieutenant-Governor's Award for Leadership in the Arts, the 2008 Saskatoon and Area Theatre Award for Playwriting, and has received the City of Regina Writing Award three times.

Kelley Jo Burke's profile page

ÒThe play works on many levelsÉBurke has crafted a beautifully-written story of love, longing, and identity.ÓÑSaskatoon Star Phoenix