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[The story is told through four main characters who, in the style of Noh theatre, are all performed by male singers: the Abbot (who acts as a narrator), and the Madwoman, the Ferryman, and the Traveller, performed by monks. A chorus is provided by eight Pilgrims]
Curlew River opens, as do the other two Church Parables, with a processional, to the hymn Te lucis ante terminum (To Thee before the close of day), in which all performers, including the musicians, walk to the performance area and take their places. At a cue from the organ, the Abbot, who acts as a narrator, introduces the "mystery" to be presented. The monks who depict the principal players don their costumes to stately instrumental accompaniment after which the play commences.
The Ferryman sings of a memorial service that will be held that day at a shrine across the river. A Traveller approaches, wishing to cross the Curlew River. The Ferryman delays his departure when they hear the Madwoman approaching. She has gone mad because of grief for her son, who disappeared a year ago. Though the Ferryman is initially reluctant to carry the Madwoman, the other characters take pity on her and persuade him to give her passage. As they cross the river, the Ferryman tells the story of the shrine: it is the burial place of a boy who arrived the year before with a cruel master who had kidnapped him from his home near the Black Mountains. The boy was sick, and his master abandoned him by the river. Despite being cared for by the locals, the boy died. The Ferryman recounts the boy's words:
I know I am dying... Please bury me here, by the path to this chapel. Then, if travellers from my dear country pass this way, their shadows will fall on my grave, and plant a yew tree in memory of me.
The river people believe that the boy's grave is sacred, that:
...some special grace is there, to heal the sick in body and in soul
As the Ferryman tells his story, it becomes clear that the boy he describes is the child of the Madwoman. Grief-stricken, she joins the rest of the cast in praying at the boy's graveside. At the climactic moment when all the men are chanting together, the voice of the boy (a treble) is heard echoing them, and his spirit appears above the tomb to reassure his mother:
Go your way in peace, mother. The dead shall rise again, And in that blessed day, We shall meet in heav'n
At this point, the Madwoman is redeemed and her madness lifts. Britten depicts the moment with the Madwoman letting out a joyful, melismatic "Amen", the final note of which resolves onto a long-delayed unison with the full cast – a signal of return and acceptance.
Here the robing ceremony music returns, as at the start, and the players resume their normal dress. The Abbot reiterates the moral, and bids the audience farewell. The full cast then recess to the same plainsong with which the work began.
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