The Old Woman Who Lived in a...

The Old Woman Who Lived in A…, a new play by Lee Gershuny, is set in a surreal world where the boundaries between reality and illusion are in flux. Read more …

The story begins 20 years after the end of the famous nursery rhyme, with the setting moved from a Shoe to The Café of No Tomorrows – a mythical place and state of mind where now is the only moment that exists and the mysterious Waiter is its ruling presence. The children that the Old Woman beat black and blue are now grown up and, like noble knights on a great quest, are determined to vanquish fear and self-doubt.

Each has their reasons for wanting to confront the Old Woman…some want revenge, while others don’t even know what they want! In order to reach The Old Woman however, they must first deal with the Waiter who continually challenges their beliefs and expectations.

With live music, physical theatre and poetic storytelling under the direction of Corinne Harris, The Old Woman Who Lived in A… explores personal identity, striking a chord of recognition which will take the audience beyond any of their expectations on a voyage of discovery.

Writer Lee Gershuny is an award-winning playwright in the USA and the UK, as well as an internationally published poet with “an idiosyncratic turn of humour.” – Chapman: Scotland’s Quality Literary Magazine.

The Old Woman was especially written for the annual Edinburgh International Festival of Middle Eastern Spirituality and Peace (MESP). The MESP Festival brings together a distinguished list of artists, scholars, grassroots spiritual activists and speakers and positively affirms the spiritual and cultural diversity of Scotland. The emphasis is on spiritual, educational, artistic and cultural approaches to peace and understanding. Since its inception in 2004, the MESP has invited The Elements World Theatre to present a new work every year to critical acclaim.