Finding Seaglass

Broadcast on BBC Radio 4 | 03 Jul 2023

Overview

| Audio Drama
| 2023

Writer and Edinburgh Makar, Hannah Lavery, offers a personal and poetic exploration of loving and losing her father, and growing up 'mixed-race' in Scotland.

Writer Hannah Lavery

Director Niloo-Far Khan.

An Almost Tangible and National Theatre of Scotland production for BBC Radio 4.

An Almost Tangible and National Theatre of Scotland production for BBC Radio 4.

Writer and Edinburgh Makar, Hannah Lavery, offers a deeply moving, poetic exploration of loving and losing her father, and an unvarnished insight into how it feels to grow up, and raise children, 'mixed-race' in Scotland - belonging yet not belonging.

"I didn’t do the play to make a political point, It’s about my family history, and it’s about how racism plays out, and how painful it is when you’re told you don’t belong. It’s also a Scottish play about a daughter who’s lost her father, who just happens to be of colour. When you lose a parent, your world shifts. The play is about sharing that.” - Hannah Lavery.

With powerful resonance in the continued struggle for justice, equality and harmony, Finding Seaglass challenges us to see Scottish history and our public memory in a different light through Hannah’s personal journey and almost-daily experience of casual racism.

A captivating spoken-word sound journey that interweaves poems with drama, Finding Seaglass pulses with Hannah’s lived experience, underscored by haunting music and the sounds of Scotland’s shores.

Written and performed by Hannah Lavery and directed by Niloo-Far Khan.

Airing onBBC Radio 4 on Monday 4 Jul 2.15pm. Following the broadcast, it will be available on BBC Sounds until 02 August.

This production gratefully acknowledges the inclusion of quotes from "Recovering Scotland's Slavery Past" (Tom Devine), "From Remedial English to Edinburgh Makar" (The National, Rachel Loughran), "Book review: Blood Salt Spring, by Hannah Lavery" (The Scotsman, Stuart Kelly).

Cast

Creative team