Lost Lear by Dan Colley – New National Tour
Fresh from its 2022 sold out run, the critically acclaimed Lost Lear by Dan Colley returns with a new national tour this Autumn!
Lost Lear previewed in Riverbank Arts Centre in July 2022 before premiering in Project Arts Centre in September 2022 as part of Dublin Theatre Festival.
A moving and darkly comic remix of Shakespeare’s play told from the point of view of Joy, a person with dementia, who is living in an old memory of rehearsing King Lear. Joy’s delicately maintained reality is upended by the arrival of her estranged son who, being cast as Cordelia, must find a way to speak his piece from within the limited role he’s given. Using puppetry, projection and live video effects, the audience are landed in Joy’s world as layers of her past and present, fiction and reality, overlap and distort. Lost Lear is a thought provoking meditation on theatre, artifice and the possibility of communicating across the chasms between us. All at once fast paced and thought-provoking, Lost Lear lands us into the world of Joy, a woman with dementia, who is being cared for through a method where people live inside an old memory.
★★★★★ The Stage
“Devastating stuff, deftly done…Colley is a
theatre maker of remarkable imagination
and insight”
★★★★★ Irish Examiner
“Brilliantly conceived and executed…
a remarkable achievement”
★★★★★ The Arts Review
“Bravely visits painful places to tenderly
illuminate them”
★★★★ Irish Mail on Sunday
“In a role demanding a wide physical and
emotional range…Bowe is remarkable”
‘Best New Play’, ‘Audience Choice’, ‘Best AV Design’ and ‘Best Supporting Actor’ nominee at the Irish Times Theatre Awards
“A captivating journey, from an energetic and rambunctious beginning to the poignant and gentle end, it portrays the bewilderment of someone who wants to care, trying to have the shared experience with the person living with dementia, struggling and sometimes failing. I am delighted to hear that Lost Lear is on tour and many more people will have the opportunity to see it for the first time – or again.” – Susan Crampton, Dementia Carers Campaign Network
Tour Dates:
Riverbank Arts Centre – Newbridge – 20th & 21st October
The Everyman – Cork – 24th & 25th October
Wesitval – Westport – 27th & 28th October
Town Hall Theatre – Galway – 8th November
Project Arts Centre – Dublin – 10th & 11th November
Hawk’s Well Theatre – Sligo – 15th November
Ramor Theatre – Virginia – 18th November
Mermaid Arts Centre – Wicklow – 21st & 22nd November
Draíocht – Blanchardstown – 25th November
The Civic – Tallaght – 28th & 29th November
Lost Lear is funded by the Arts Council of Ireland, co-produced by Riverbank Arts Centre and Mermaid Arts Centre and supported by field:arts.
Cast: Venetia Bowe; Peter Daly; Manus Halligan, Em Ormonde, Clodagh O’Farrell
Directed by Dan Colley
Music Composed by Daniel McAuley
Set Design by Andrew Clancy
Lighting Design by Suzie Cummins
Costume Design by Cherie White
Sound Design by Kevin Gleeson
AV Design by Ross Ryder
Image: Pato Cassinoni / Graphic Design: Sarah Moloney
