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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.
Production Details
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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.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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[Review] The Dictionary of Lost Words
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 4-10 November 2023;
— Review of The Dictionary of Lost Words 2023 single work drama 'Sydney Theatre Company’s adaptation of Pip Williams’ best-selling novel The Dictionary of Lost Words is loyal to the book but weighed down by exposition. By Fiona Murphy.' -
A Journey of Discovery and Identity Formation : The Dictionary of Lost Words Makes Its Wonderful Stage Debut
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 28 September 2023;
— Review of The Dictionary of Lost Words 2023 single work drama'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)
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The Dictionary of Lost Words Review – Stage Adaptation of Bestseller Finds Power in the Silences
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 28 September 2023;
— Review of The Dictionary of Lost Words 2023 single work drama'Pip Williams’ 2020 novel was all about words – but on stage, it could do with a few less'
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The Dictionary of Lost Words Review – Stage Adaptation of Bestseller Finds Power in the Silences
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 28 September 2023;
— Review of The Dictionary of Lost Words 2023 single work drama'Pip Williams’ 2020 novel was all about words – but on stage, it could do with a few less'
-
A Journey of Discovery and Identity Formation : The Dictionary of Lost Words Makes Its Wonderful Stage Debut
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 28 September 2023;
— Review of The Dictionary of Lost Words 2023 single work drama'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)
-
[Review] The Dictionary of Lost Words
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 4-10 November 2023;
— Review of The Dictionary of Lost Words 2023 single work drama 'Sydney Theatre Company’s adaptation of Pip Williams’ best-selling novel The Dictionary of Lost Words is loyal to the book but weighed down by exposition. By Fiona Murphy.'
Awards
- 2024 highly commended Victorian Premier's Literary Awards — Prize for Drama
