Buffalo Theater: ICTC partners with Buffalo Irish Center on performative journey to the Irish bog

By Elmer Ploetz
(Image above: Photo by Patricio Cassinoni, courtesy https://www.lukecasserly.org)

The Irish Classical Theatre Company is launching the North American tour of “Distillation” at the Bufaflo Irish Center with a set if eight performance at the Buffalo Irish Center (245 Abbott Rd., Buffalo) on Friday through Sunday, Oct. 24-26.

The event is billed as a “performative journey to the Irish bog landscape through scent” and as a response to the recent ending of peat harvesting in Ireland. It is guided by performance artist Luke Casserly, who worked with perfumer Joan Woods to create a distillation of the Midlands bog where he grew up as part of the performance experience.

The event is described as part interactive lecture and part performance, including text, video, sound sculpture and, yes, that scent. Audience members will each receive a small sample of the custom perfume created for the project.

We asked ICTC Artistic Director Keelie Sheridan some questions about the innovative project.

Buffalo Hive: How did the booking of “Distillation” come about?  

Keelie Sheridan: Since beginning my tenure, it’s been a goal of mine to help Irish Classical connect deeply to the diverse, robust and exciting theater and performance being created in Ireland today. I think ICTC’s unique role in our community is to help make Buffalo an international beacon for creativity, both with the work we make, and the work we bring to town.

Irish Classical has recently become involved in the Network of Irish Cultural Centers of North America, formed by the New York Consulate General of Ireland and Culture Ireland. It’s allowed us the opportunity to connect with other organizations across the U.S., Mexico and Canada who promote Irish art and culture. Through meetings and showcases, we connect with each other about new artists and works coming out of Ireland.

I was introduced to “Distillation” by D.C.’s Solas Nua artistic director, Rex Daughtery, who commissioned the piece and co-produced it with Dublin’s Abbey Theatre. The content, the concept and the intimacy of the piece drew me in immediately.

Last June, the Distillation was touring the East Coast and we brought it to ICTC for a one-night private engagement. The attendees left buzzing with excitement, and deeply moved by the piece, and I knew we had to bring it back to offer it to our greater community.

BH: How did the collaboration with the Irish Cultural Center happen? 

KS: I met with the Buffalo Irish Center previously to explore possibilities of a collaboration, and we’ve just been waiting for the right opportunity to surface. When we began talking to Solas Nua about launching “Distillation’s” Fall 2025 Tour here in Buffalo, I immediately thought of a partnership with the BIC. “Distillation” is unique in that it does not necessarily need to be performed in a traditional theater space, so it opened up the possibility for us to present it offsite. We’re rehearsing Ronán Noone’s “Thirst” in our theater space simultaneously, so the stars aligned for us to partner on this tour.

 BH: Where do you view the presentation of a program like this in the theatre landscape? Is it theater, or something else? 

KS: This piece for me lives in the overlap of theatre, installation and storytelling. The piece incorporates a little bit of every design element, including a very unique moment of projection art.

BH: Have you ever been involved with a show that involved smell before? !!!

KS: Scent is such a powerful and transformative sense to engage in performance. We burned frankincense and myrrh incense in the theater during last season’s production of “Crocodile Fever,” and it helped transport the audience into the minds and memories of characters who had spent a good deal of time attending mass as children. 

 BH: What logistical challenges are involved in a program like this? 

KS: The artist and producing team have toured this piece previously, so they’ve really worked out many of the logistical challenges in advance. The physical elements of the piece — the sods of peat, the bespoke table around which the audience sits and the individual vials of custom-made perfume the audience receive in the piece — have all been made in Ireland and shipped here. This show comes to us ready for an audience!

 BHH: What are you most looking forward to in seeing it? 

KS: I’ve been lucky enough to see the piece previously. I think what I’m most excited to see is the audience’s reaction. It’s really unlike anything else happening in our area, and in some ways, very new territory for Irish Classical. 

BH: Is there anything in particular that you think Buffalo audiences should know about this event? 

KS: Though it’s been on tour previously, the intimate nature of “Distillation” (only 25 audience members per performance) means that only a very, very small number of people have ever experienced this piece. It’s a real treat that our community will be counted among that number now. Distillation encapsulates one of theatre’s greatest abilities — to transport us to new landscapes, and let us peek into lives we haven’t lived. We’re so pleased to invite our audience to take a literal seat at the table with one of Ireland’s most exciting contemporary theater makers. 

Performances are:

• Friday, Oct. 24, at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m.
• Saturday, Oct. 25, at 2:00, 4:00, and 6:30 p.m.
• Sunday, Oct. 26, at 1:00, 3:00 and 5:30 p.m.

Tickets are $45 (plus a $3 fee for online sales). There are available HERE.