‘Sea’ Struggles to Hold Water

First produced in 1971, Gardner McKay’s “Sea Marks,” now at the Raven Playhouse, is a lushly romantic but predictable fable that is a shade too sweetly sentimental for comfort.

Colm Primrose (Sean Fallon Walsh), a fisherman who plies his hardscrabble trade on an isolated island off the coast of Ireland, has his head turned by Timothea Stiles (Virginia Morris), a visitor he meets in passing at a local wedding. After a long epistolary romance, Colm decides to accept Timothea’s offer to visit her in Liverpool. Unbeknownst to Colm, Timothea--who works for a literary press--has his letters published and, before he can say “Begorrah,” Colm is being hailed as a rustic poet. But the sea calls out to Colm, and when Timothea refuses to leave Liverpool, he must choose between his ancestral way of life and the woman he loves.

McKay must have stroked the Blarney stone before he penned this lyrical and strikingly authentic dialogue. However, despite the unpretentious direction of Richard Scully, this fisherman-out-of-water story ultimately leaves us high and dry.

As primitive as any New Guinea tribes man, Colm is so affectedly untutored in the ways of the world that it strains belief. His rise to fame, his disenchantment with city life, and the subsequent fate of the friend and fishing partner he left behind transpire with the florid inevitability of a cheap romance novel.

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* “Sea Marks,” Raven Playhouse, 5233 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends Feb. 1. $12. (213) 660-8587. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes.