Hewitt, John Harold

David Almond turns his talents to drama in these two plays. Skellig is the dramatization of his highly acclaimed novel. What has Michael found in the derelict garage? What is this creature that lies in the darkness? Is it human, or a strange beast never seen before? And what will happen in the world when he carries it out into the light? Wild Girl, Wild Boy is an original play produced in London by the Pop-Up Theatre company. Young Elaine has recently lost her father, and now she spends her days dreaming in the family's garden, skipping school, unable to read or write. One day, Elaine conjures up a Wild Boy from spells and fairy seed. No one else can see him, and Elaine disappears into a world of fantasy where she and Wild Boy remember the teachings of her father. Will her mother ever come to understand? These two plays introduce a new talent from the remarkable David Almond.

The Corncrake time had come again and summer days were dawning. The smell of gorse and meadow bloom did saturate the morning And from the long grass came a sound like “scratch of comb on matchbox edge” The Corncrake had returned again to carry out its yearly pledge. And there I stood on route to school with shoeless feet and fear of cane And listened while that Corncrake claimed; your late again, your late again.