Bog landscapes in focus at new show

Multi-disciplinary performance-maker Luke Casserly grew up in Lanesboro, Co Longford, close by to the Bord na Móna bogs. From this young man emerges a rather unusual theatrical work inspired by the scents and sounds of those bog landscapes.

When he brings his show ‘Distillation’ to Ballina later this month, he will be creating a unique essence of the Midlands bog, the place where he grew up, as the starting point for an olfactory encounter exploring our relationship to place. 

‘Distillation’ is a multi-sensory performance that transports audiences to the Irish bog landscape primarily through scent. For his show, Luke has collaborated with renowned perfumer Joan Woods of Waters + Wild Organic Perfumery in West Cork.

Created in direct response to the cessation of Ireland’s peat harvesting industry, ‘Distillation’ is dedicated to the future of our broken landscapes in the hope that, by listening to them, we might be able to better understand them.

The production premiered as part of Dublin Theatre Festival in 2023 and has since toured extensively across Ireland, the USA and Canada, earning widespread critical acclaim.

Luke Casserly’s work weaves together environmental research, documentary, sound art and site as a way of carving out space for new possibilities to emerge between live performance and physical landscape. To date, his projects have brought audiences through city streets, back gardens, train stations, beaches and a bog in the Irish midlands.

The performance is a co-production by The Abbey Theatre and Solas Nua, commissioned by Solas Nua, and is suitable for anyone over the age of 12.

Tickets for ‘Distillation’ in Ballina Arts Centre on Monday, June 29 and Tuesday, June 30 are now on sale, with 50-minute performances taking place twice daily, at 1pm and 7pm. Tickets cost €18 plus booking fee and can be purchased online at www.ballinaartscentre.com. You can also call 096-73593 or email info@ballinaartscentre.com to book.