Introduction
702 years ago, Dame Alice Kyteler became the first woman in Ireland to be tried for heresy.
She fled Kilkenny and her servant Petronella was tortured, tried and convicted in her stead, then publicly burned alive on the main street of Kilkenny.
Publicly. Burned. Alive.
Following last year’s sneak preview, acclaimed theatre company Asylum Productions (The Big Chapel X, The Local) returns to the Festival for this epic reimagining of the Kilkenny Witch Trials.
The story unfolds over five episodes, taking place across the city throughout the Festival. They can be experienced in any order, and if you miss an episode you can catch up via the newspaper The Daily Words (available at the box office or at thealiceclub.com)
Whatever you do, don’t miss Episode 5: The Burning, a spectacular finale celebrating the life, and commemorating the unjust death, of Petronella de Meath, complete with courtroom drama, a community choir and real flames.
This is a once-in-700-year chance to experience Alice as you’ve never seen her before.
Episode 3: The Words of Alice
Writer Medb Lambert
Director Dónal Gallagher
Bishop Dickie has been spreading lies about Alice, and she’s gone into hiding. Come meet the Dark Dame herself and hear her side of the story, if you dare, in this clandestine one-on-one encounter in a graveyard.
The Alice Project is created by Medb Lambert, Donal Gallagher, Clare Monnelly, Janice de Bróithe, Fern Kealy, Sarah Joan Kelly. Choreography by Cindy Cummings. Music by Dave Holland. Choral Director Muireann Ryan.
The Alice Project is commissioned by Kilkenny County Council as part of its current Public Arts Programme, funded by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage & The Arts Council. Kilkenny’s vision for public arts is to ensure that people who live in and visit Kilkenny experience captivating, challenging and culturally diverse high-quality public art projects.
