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'It’s 1886 and the very first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary is being compiled. Four-year-old Esme Nicoll has a front row seat. Well, she’s hiding under the sorting table, anyway. As her father and his male colleagues decide which words stay and which go, Esme collects the discarded (often gendered) scraps to compile her own far more radical, far more magical dictionary.
'A sweeping historical tale in the spirit of The Harp in the South, The Dictionary of Lost Words follows Esme from her childhood in the 1880s, into adulthood at the height of the women’s suffrage movement and the beginning of the First World War.'
Source: Sydney Theatre Company.
Produced by Sydney Theatre Company and the State Company of South Australia.
Director: Jessica Arthur.
Set Designer: Jonathan Oxlade.
Costume Designer: Ailsa Paterson.
Lighting Designer: Trent Suidgeest.
State Theatre Company of South Australia: Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival centre, 22 September - 14 October 2023.
Sydney Theatre Company: Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House, 26 October - 9 December 2023.
Presented by Sydney Theatre Company and the State Company of South Australia.
Sydney Theatre Company: Roslyn Packer Theatre, 1-22 March 2025.
State Theatre Company of South Australia: Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre, 3-17 April 2025.
Director: Jessica Arthur.
Set Designer: Jonathan Oxlade.
Costume Designer: Ailsa Paterson.
Lighting Designer: Trent Suidgeest.
Composer & Sound Designer: Max Lyandvert.
Cast: Arkia Ashraf, Rachel Burke, Ksenja Logos, Shannen Alyce Quan.
'Adapted from the bestselling novel, Verity Naughton's play is a celebration of the power of language and the importance of choosing your words.'
'The Dictionary of Lost Words follows Esme as she navigates the patriarchal world of Victorian England. While her father and colleagues construct the Oxford English Dictionary, Esme begins to form her own dictionary – particularly the words spoken by women and the working class who have been excluded.' (Publication summary)
'Pip Williams’ 2020 novel was all about words – but on stage, it could do with a few less'
'Pip Williams’ 2020 novel was all about words – but on stage, it could do with a few less'
'The Dictionary of Lost Words follows Esme as she navigates the patriarchal world of Victorian England. While her father and colleagues construct the Oxford English Dictionary, Esme begins to form her own dictionary – particularly the words spoken by women and the working class who have been excluded.' (Publication summary)
'Adapted from the bestselling novel, Verity Naughton's play is a celebration of the power of language and the importance of choosing your words.'
