Untold Wants Theatre Co. Makes Its Vancouver Debut

Irish eyes bring The Human Ear to Vancouver. The new, young Irish theatre company Untold Wants Theatre Co., makes its Vancouver debut with the North American premiere of the acclaimed drama, The Human Ear. Opening July 18, at Pacific Theatre, award-winning British playwright Alexandra Wood’s eerie play, breaks down language and certainties, playing with chronology and flashback.

The Human Ear stars Paige Louter as Lucy, whose father was a soldier killed in the Gulf war and, following an act of protest and retribution of his death, her brother Jason ran away from home. Now she’s just lost her mother in an attack on a city bus. Following a ten-year absence, her brother has now returned. But is he who he says he is? Lucy’s boyfriend Ed, a police liaison officer, doesn’t think so.

“With The Human Ear, the theme of difficulty with facing identity when we are experiencing grief or shock is a feeling to which we can all relate,” says Éanna O’Dowd, who plays both Lucy’s brother and Ed, her boyfriend.

“The difficult work is in accepting truths we may not want to. But Alexandra Wood turns that concept on its head. Her writing makes us see that it’s okay not to be in control when facing our struggles, but to see what’s right in front of us in any given moment. For Lucy, the possibility to accept help is around her. But who can she trust when she is split herself?”

Pacific Theatre’s intimate design allows Untold Wants Theatre Co. to reflect the staging of the play’s 2015 Edinburgh Fringe debut. “Theatre is where people can go to experience universal truths, and come out the other side with perhaps a different view of their environments,” says Jessica Aquila Cymerman, director and co-producer (along with O’Dowd). “Traversing culture is important to us, so bringing a company to Canada, that started in Ireland with theatre-makers who were trained in Scotland, offers a unique perspective to the Vancouver scene.”

Originally from Los Angeles and Galway, Ireland, respectively, Untold Wants Theatre founders Jessica Aquila Cymerman and Éanna O’Dowd met while studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow. They established Untold Wants Theatre to bring new, contemporary voices to a wide range of audiences. The Human Ear is their second production, and first in Vancouver, following a successful run of the Irish premiere of Reasons to be Pretty by Neil LaBute in Dublin.

Untold Wants Theatre Co.’s The Human Ear runs July 18 to 25, 2018 at Pacific Theatre, 1440 W. 12th Avenue. Find showtimes and tickets online now