Curlew River

About the show

In medieval East Anglia, a Madwoman searches for her son, who disappeared a year earlier. A Ferryman tells how a sick boy was abandoned by his master near the river and died, asking to be buried by the path to a chapel. As the Ferryman recounts the story, the Madwoman realizes the boy was her son. She prays at his grave, and the boy’s spirit appears to comfort her. Her madness lifts, and the Abbot closes the parable.