The Wonderful World of Dissocia

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The cover of the original playtext uses an image from Lisa's "subconscious imagination"

The Wonderful World of Dissocia is a play written and directed by Anthony Neilson about a young woman suffering from dissociative disorder. The idea was originally workshopped with a group of students at LAMDA in 2002 but was later re-written and produced for the Glasgow's Tron Theatre at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2004.[1] The play won Neilson the 2004-5 CATS award for Best New Play and the production secured Best Director award for Neilsen, Best Actress award for Christine Entwisle (Lisa) and Best Design for Miriam Buether.[2] In December 2009 The List magazine included the work in its "Best of a Decade" compilation.[3] It toured England in 2007, making its London debut at the Royal Court Theatre in March 2007.[4]

The United States première was at the Profiles Theater, North Broadway Street, Chicago, on 26 March 2009. The Sydney Theatre Company mounted a production at The Wharf Theatre, Sydney, Australia, on 18 April 2009.[5][6] The Latin American première was at Mediterránea Café Teatro, Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 20 March 2015.[7]

A new London production starring Leah Harvey premiered at Theatre Royal Stratford East in 2022.[8]

Theme[edit]

The play is in two contrasting acts, with the first a vivid recreation of Lisa's dream-like imaginary life, "full of colour and fun", and the second a bleak, black-and-white presentation of the hospital ward in which she is receiving treatment; because of the contrast we see the prospect of Lisa's return to wellness as rather unattractive. In this way the play attempts to give the audience a notion of how the condition affects the sufferer and offers an alternative view of conventional treatments.[9][10]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Neilson, Anthony (2007). "Foreword". The Wonderful World of Dissocia/Realism. London: Methuen. ISBN 978-0-7136-8715-6.
  2. ^ "Critics' Awards For Theatre in Scotland 2004-05 Winners". Retrieved 3 December 2009.
  3. ^ "Best of a decade: Timeline". The List. Edinburgh. 2 December 2009. Retrieved 3 December 2009.
  4. ^ Billington, Michael (2 April 2007). "The Wonderful World of Dissocia". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  5. ^ "The Wonderful World of Dissocia". Australian Stage. April 2009.
  6. ^ Jones, Chris (31 March 2009). "Dissocia at Profiles: the most outrageous current show in Chicago". Theater Loop. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  7. ^ Time Out Buenos Aires (19 March 2015) https://www.facebook.com/timeoutba/posts/901502096569363
  8. ^ West End Best Friend (9 August 2022) https://www.westendbestfriend.co.uk/news/theatre-royal-stratford-east-announces-full-cast-for-the-wonderful-world-of-dissocia
  9. ^ Brown, Ian (2013). "Processes and interactive events". In Blandford, Steve (ed.). Theatre and performance in small nations. University of Chicago Press. p. 45. ISBN 978-1841506463.
  10. ^ Cavendish, Dominic (6 April 2007). "Inspired lunacy in la-la land". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
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