JENNIFER JOHNSTON / OCTOBER 2012

Moving between the Ireland of the ‘Emergency’ and the present day, ‘the desert lullaby’ is the story of two elderly women: the ‘harmlessly insane’ Flora, and Nellie, her housekeeper, scold and protector.

Their intertwining stories provide an evocative exploration of familial love, oppression, loyalty and memory. Rooted firmly in the imaginative and political tensions at the heart of Ireland past and present, their voices, stories and perspectives – young and old – are an articulation of endurance in the face of greater impersonal forces of destruction: loss, death, decay and betrayal.

By turns comic and harrowing, ‘the desert lullaby’ confirms Jennifer Johnston as one of Ireland’s most significant dramatists.

CAST

Flora: Rita McCarthy

Nellie: Suzanne Healy

Young Flora: Ashlea Cox

Young Nellie: Jane Mehigan

Eddie:Adam Burke

CREW

Director: Ronald Jones