2007-2014: Part radio play, part lesson in bird dissection and part stroll in the park, Susurrus is a play without actors, without a stage and with only one person in the audience - you.

The listener wears an MP3 player and headphones while following a route around a botanic garden. They hear snippets about opera, memorial benches and botany which fit together into a mournful and poignant story of love and loss. It takes themes from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and transforms them into a narrative based on a fictional singer in Benjamin Britten’s original opera production of Midsummer Night’s Dream.

WINNER - Outstanding Special Event (San Diego Critics Circle Awards, USA)

★★★★ "The brilliance of David Leddy's Susurrus … is both a clever refraction of Shakespeare's themes and a distinct drama in it's own right." The Guardian

★★★★ "Exquisitely realised" The Herald

★★★★ "A magical blend of sorrow, anger, compassion, excellent writing and magnificent music." The Scotsman

PICK OF THE FRINGE 2009 - "Beautiful... site-specific genius David Leddy" The Scotsman

PICK OF THE FRINGE 2009 - The Guardian

Jun 2007, Glasgow, UK

Jun 2009, Cork Midsummer Festival, Cork, Ireland

Aug 2009, Edinburgh, UK

Sep 2009, Oxford, UK

Sep 2009, Leonardo Da Vinci Museum, Milan, Italy

Jun 2010, New Haven International Festival of Arts and Ideas, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

Jun 2010, London, UK

Sep 2010, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Oct 2010, Wexner Center, Columbus, Ohio, USA (run extended by popular demand)

Oct 2010, Kennedy Center, Washington DC, USA

Nov 2010, Glasgow Botanic Gardens, UK

May 2011, ArtsEmerson, Boston, USA

May 2011, Societaetstheater, Dresden, Germany

Jun 2011, Margam, Wales

Jun 2011, Parque Ibirapuera, São Paulo, Brazil

Sep 2011, La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego, USA

Sep 2011, Cerro Santa Lucia, Santiago de Chile (run extended by popular demand)

March 2013, Instituto Inhotim, Brazil (run extended by popular demand)

October 2013, Fonoteca Nacional, Mexico City

October 2013, Cervantino Internacional Festival, Mexico

June 2014, The Contemporary Austin, Texas, USA

Written and directed by DAVID LEDDY

Performers:
Moth - PAUL THOMAS HICKEY
Helena - WENDY SEAGER
The Singer - KAREN RAMSEY
The Researcher - STEWART ENNIS

Recorded and mixed by MICHAEL LANCASTER
Map artwork by LAURA MOLLOY

This play is included in the free e-book of Hits and Misses which can be downloaded here