The Dictionary of Lost Words

Merrigong Theatre Company presents Verity Laughton’s smash-hit stage adaptation of Australian author Pip Williams’ award-winning New York Times bestseller, The Dictionary of Lost Words, at the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre for a special two-week season from 29 May to 7 June 2025.

The Dictionary of Lost Words is a sweeping historical tale that follows a young woman, Esme, as she navigates the patriarchal world of Victorian England.

It’s 1886, and the very first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary is being compiled. Young Esme Nicoll has a front row seat. Well, she’s hiding under the sorting table, anyway. As her father and his male colleagues decide which words stay and which go, Esme collects the discarded scraps to compile her own radical, magical dictionary.