Directed by Lydia Ziemke

Performed by Lucy Ellinson

Designed by Claire Schirck 

Sound by Owen Lasch 

DIRECTOR'S NOTE:

In 2005 Dea Loher was invited to travel to Kabul and work with Afghani writers. She also encountered a war-torn city and its traumatised citizens. Afterwards her medium, language, failed her at first. As language implies meaning she was stalled because in K it seemed life itself had no meaning in the face of all the random deaths within the city and each person’s immediate history. She said later that she felt no artistic activity could assist the maker or the spectator in their dealing with these matters. This resonated strongly with my own questioning.

At the same time Dea Loher felt she had to bear witness so that this reality is not forgotten or brushed aside with the overall sensationalist media language.

To create distance for herself she replaced the medium of language with that of visual art, thus making it valid for all artistic activity. She felt she had to restrict the piece to the inward view of the artist in her context in Europe rather than comment on anything she had seen in the Arabic city. Again these aspects rang true and inspired me to transpose this text onto the stage.

I came across the text when working at the Royal Court in 2009. The theatre is very fond of Loher’s work but when it became clear that they will not be able to programme this piece I asked to obtain the rights and produced it independently. We developed the work in Berlin and premiered it at the Fringe Festival Edinburgh 2009, because we felt it was best to present it to an international audience.

Together with Claire Schirck and Lucy Ellinson I created a plastic, three dimensional, physical life for this lyrical piece. It is art installation and theatre play at once, the performer becomes part of the installation at times, and progessively the materials of the installation take over her body. The underlying dynamic of the text captivated us completely: An artists seeks to create real experiences through abstract work, then she is stalled because she has very abstract experiences in the face of real images.

As well as her artistic theories we visualised the artists expectations of the place, K., she visits, and the process of those expectations being broken down when she is experiencing war there. Back at home the material she brought back invariably mingle with her own – but the combination alters continously in her heart and mind and would not be suitable for a generalised presentation in art.

All she can do in the end is allow the uncomfortable nostalgia, bear the compassion and pain, but also, true to herself carry on being joyful in her own life.

These processes are ongoing during my own travels and work in the Arab world. 

Reviews and Awards (Edinburgh):

Land Without Words enjoyed critical acclaim at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (09), capturing the attention of theatre critics and the BBC world service.

The Stage Awards for Acting Excellence 2009 - Lucy Ellinson: nominated for Best Solo Performance

‘Lucy Ellinson delivers a superb performance as a shell-shocked artist in this ambitious play by German writer Dea Loher about contemporary war, creativity and perception. Impeccably staged and Innovatively directed, the piece has some unforgettable moments’.

The Stage - 'Must See'

‘Lucy Ellinson was extraordinary. In fact don't think I've seen a more committed or honest performance’.

Lyn Gardner - The Guardian (‘What to see this week’)

‘Dea Loher's monologue is vividly brought to life by performance artist Lucy Ellinson, directed by Lydia Ziemke. She inhabits the brittle, impassioned character of the artist in a visceral, intense performance. (..) Loher's stream-of-consciousness text sustains its audience despite exploring complex and frequently abstract ideas.(..) Her artistic crisis is not comfortable to watch, and it gives no easy answers, but it does articulate some complex and vital questions about the relationship between art and life.

**** The Scotsman    (“Hot Show” & ‘Best of the Fest’)

‘One of the best performers of her generation…she's one of those rare talents you'd pay £20 to see reading the phone book…Unmissable.’

Time Out                                   

 ‘Land Without Words is perfectly knitted together, permanently and wholeheartedly in tune with the aesthetic principles extolled by its protagonist: bodily over beauty. The result is a gripping piece of performance that leaves behind thumping and insoluble conundrums, both ethical and aesthetical’.

Culture Wars 

“…a mighty performance”   **** What’s on Stage

‘Passionate, uncompromising and utterly profound. For the love of God, go.’ ***** Three Weeks

‘It is Lucy Ellinson’s totally exposing performance that makes Land Without Words so visceral a piece of theatre’ 

Music OMH

"bravely performed, imaginatively staged and the writing delves deep into the heart of the meaning of Art."

**** Fringe Review

Reviews Strasbourg: