Kelly's Eye

Synopsis

A Lancashire beach and a seaside guest house, 1939. The looming spectre of war casts long shadows over a desperate romance.

Kelly, a tough Irishman and former hired killer during “the troubles”, lives as a fugitive in a primitive hut on a Lancashire beach. His isolation is shattered by the arrival of Anna Brierly, a middle-class woman fleeing her stifling existence. Their unlikely connection blossoms into a romance tinged with danger and desperation.

Livings’ play is a sardonic melodrama that blends elements of adventure story and philosophical fable. Through the doomed relationship of Kelly and Anna, the playwright explores themes of redemption, alienation, and the conflict between life and death forces.

As Kelly and Anna’s attempt to find solace in each other unravels due to pursuit by the law and Anna’s family, the play delves into questions of personal identity, societal expectations, and the possibility of change. The mysterious “Eyeless man” who aids the couple adds an element of the surreal to the unfolding tragedy. Ultimately, Kelly’s choice of suicide over capture becomes a complex statement on individual agency in the face of overwhelming forces.