Distillation

Created and Performed by Luke Casserly

October 24-26, 2026

An Immersive Special Engagement, Presented Offsite at the Buffalo Irish Center.

An intimate sensory journey through Ireland’s bogs, blending scent, sound, and story.

Following a sold-out run at the Dublin Theatre Festival and performances at The Abbey Theatre, Solas Nua, and Round House Theatre, Irish Classical Theatre Company is proud to launch the North American tour of Distillation here in Buffalo.

A performative journey to the Irish bog landscape through scent, Distillation is a response to the recent cessation of the peat harvesting industry in Ireland. Performance artist Luke Casserly has collaborated with renowned perfumer 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 examines our human relationship to place. Dedicated to the future of our broken landscapes, Distillation invites us to listen to the land in hopes of better understanding it.

Part interactive lecture and part performance, this intimate 50-minute work features original text, video, sound design, sculpture, and scent. Audience members sit together around a custom-made table, are invited to hold organic materials and smell parts of the bog landscape, and each receive a small sample of the custom perfume created for the project.

Performance Dates & Times:

Friday, October 24, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Friday, October 24, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Saturday, October 25, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Saturday, October 25, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Saturday, October 25, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Sunday, October 26, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Sunday, October 26, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Sunday, October 26, 2025 at 5:30 PM