Distillation is a performance that you see, hear and smell. Described as a performative journey which takes you to the Irish bog landscape through scent, Distillation was created by Luke Casserly who grew up in Lanesborough, County Longford as a response to the recent cessation of the peat harvesting industry in the area.
Luke Casserly told Limerick Post, “I suppose the piece began when, like a lot of people, I moved back home during the pandemic.
“So for the first time in my adult life, I was spending a lot of time in Longford, the place where I grew up.I had time to go on walks and spend time in nature.
“I found a new appreciation for the landscape and the really unusual things that grow there and plug into it. Around that time as well, Bord in the Mona was coming to a close in 2020 and I remember the last locomotive frames were going up and down the bog during that time. And there were loads of conversations happening locally around what was going to happen, what the next chapter was going to be.
“But at the same time there was a lot of optimism for the landscape being allowed to rewild itself.
So there were those two sides to the story, environmental optimism, but also the socio economic challenges. I wanted to make a project that captured both sides of that story and didn’t shut either one out.”
Most people familiar with rural Ireland will be aware of the bog being a meeting point for people in the turf cutting season, cutting it, drying it and hauling it home to use over the winter and Distillation acknowledges this. Each performance is limited to about 25 people sitting around a large sculptural table.
Luke Casserly has teamed up with County Cork based perfume maker Joan Woods to create something truly wild—a scent straight from the heart of the Irish bogs where he grew up. This is an olfactory experience that dives deep into our connection with the land, asking us to tune into the whispers of our fractured landscapes and so we might be able to better understand them.
This presentation of Distillation follows a critically and popularly successful, sold-out world premiere as part of Dublin Theatre Festival 2023, in addition to a North American tour which took place in 2024.
Driven by his roots in the Midlands, Luke created Distillation to spark deeper conversations about the environmental power of the Irish bogs. The scent you’ll experience isn’t just any perfume. Joan Woods of Waters + Wild Organic Perfumery has bottled the essence of the Midlands landscape, distilling botanicals straight from the bogs into something raw, real, and unforgettable.
Each audience member gets a sample of this custom-made perfume, and the stage? A massive sculptural table made from sustainably-sourced peat, bringing the raw beauty of the Irish Midlands right to your fingertips.
There will be three performances of Distillation at Lime Tree Theatre at 2:30pm, 5pm, 8pm on Saturday September 7.
