Smash-hit adaptation of Pip Williams’ 'The Dictionary of Lost Words' comes to Wollongong!

Merrigong Theatre Company is thrilled to present 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.

Presented in association with the State Theatre Company South Australia and Sydney Theatre Company as part of a six-city national tour, 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.

Coming to Wollongong to sweep audiences away, 'The Dictionary of Lost Words' follows Esme from her childhood into adulthood at the height of the women’s suffrage movement and the beginning of the First World War.

Merrigong Theatre Company’s CEO and Artistic Director Simon Hinton added, “I am excited to bring our second blockbuster theatre event of the season to Wollongong. This powerful and visually stunning stage adaptation of the best-selling book will resonate deeply with our community. It’s a celebration of storytelling at its finest, and we can’t wait to share this unforgettable experience with audiences across the region.”

Wollongong will delight in this beautiful and transporting reflection on love and language in a stunning work of art, with each detail carefully considered.