24 October - 14 November 2025
A Luke Casserly, Abbey Theatre and Solas Nua production
Distillation (US tour)
Created and Performed by Luke Casserly
Booking Information
Tour Dates:
24 – 26 Oct – Irish Classical Theatre Company, Buffalo, New York
30 Oct – St. Thomas University, St. Paul, Minnesota
2 Nov – Celtic Junction Arts Center, St. Paul, Minnesota
4 Nov – Kansas City Irish Center, Kansas City, Missouri
13 – 14 Nov – Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania
A performative journey which takes you to the Irish bog landscape through scent.
Following sold-out performances across Ireland and in the US, Distillation is coming to 5 venues across the US this October and November.
This exciting experience is a response to the recent cessation of the peat harvesting industry in Ireland. Luke Casserly has collaborated with renowned perfume maker Joan Woods to create a unique distillation of the Midlands bog – the place where he grew up – as the starting point for an olfactory encounter that looks at our human relationship to place.
Dedicated to the future of our broken landscapes – in the hope that by listening to them, we might be able to better understand them.
Distillation premiered as part of Dublin Theatre Festival 2023. Commissioned by Solas Nua, and supported by Goethe-Institut Irland, IMMA, Druid FUEL, AXIS Ballymun, and Backstage Theatre. Developed with the support of an Arts Council Theatre Project Award.
Reviews
★★★★
"All of the senses are engaged: not just sight and hearing but also touch, smell and even taste."
The Irish Times
★★★★
"Genuinely inventive"
Irish Examiner
"This is a thought-provoking show, that stays in the mind long after, like the sweet woody smell of the bog perfume that lingers on the wrist"
Irish Independent
“In this intimate performance, every element is essential as Ireland’s landscape and history are brought to sensory life”
DC Theatre Arts
“A memorable experience … exquisite”
Maryland Theatre Guide
"This wondrously crafted experience invites us to consider our own relationships to the earth and places around us. Enchantingly tranquil and deeply affecting”
UnProfessional Opinion DC
"Luke Casserly’s beautiful one-man show gives the land agency and audiences hope.”
Washington City Paper
Credits
- Created by : Luke Casserly
- Perfume Artist: Joan Woods
- Sculpture: Ger Clancy
- Dramaturgy: Rex Daugherty
- Costume: Doreen McKenna
- Additional Costume: Síofra Caherty
- Video: Robert Higgins
- Sound: Sam Hardiman
- Artistic Documentation: Fergal Styles
- Production Photography: Patricio Cassinoni
