Lucy’s father was a soldier killed in the Gulf war and, following an act of protest and retribution of his death, her brother Jason ran away from home. Now, she’s just lost her mother in an attack on a city bus. Following a ten-year absence, her brother has now returned. But is he who he says he is? Lucy’s boyfriend Ed, a police liaison officer, doesn’t think so.

Breaking down language and certainties, playing with chronology and flashback, The Human Ear opened to
acclaim at the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Now, a fresh young theatre company from Ireland, Untold
Wants Theatre Co., brings the North American premiere of British playwright Alexandra Wood’s eerie drama
to the Vancouver stage.

“With The Human Ear, the theme of difficulty with facing identity when we are experiencing grief or shock is a
feeling to which we can all relate,” says Éanna O'Dowd, who plays both Lucy’s brother and Ed, her boyfriend.

“The difficult work is in accepting truths we may not want to. But Alexandra Wood turns that concept on its
head. Her writing makes us see that it’s okay not to be in control when facing our struggles, but to see what's
right in front of us in any given moment. For Lucy, the possibility to accept help is around her. But who can she
trust when she is split herself?”

Untold Wants is particularly pleased to present The Human Ear at Pacific Theatre. The theatre’s intimate
design allows the company to reflect the play’s 2015 Edinburgh Fringe debut. In a four-star review, The
Guardian called the work “fascinating, intricate and tricky,” and worked to “create a forum that interrogates identity, trust and mistrust – and how we live now.”

“Theatre is where people can go to experience universal truths, and come out the other side with perhaps a
different view of their environments,” says Jessica Aquila Cymerman, director and co-producer (along with
O’Dowd). “Traversing culture is important to us, so bringing a company to Canada, that started in Ireland with
theatre-makers who were trained in Scotland, offers a unique perspective to the Vancouver scene.”

The Human Ear stars Paige Louter and Éanna O’Dowd. Louter’s Vancouver stage credits include The Wolves,
Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, and The Lonesome West. O’Dowd’s credits include national Irish tours of Vernon
God Little, and appearances in the TV series DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and A Series of Unfortunate Events.

About Untold Wants Theatre—Originally from Los Angeles and Galway, Ireland, respectively, Untold Wants
Theatre founders Jessica Aquila Cymerman and Éanna O'Dowd met while studying at the Royal Conservatoire
of Scotland in Glasgow. They established Untold Wants Theatre to bring new, contemporary voices to a wide
range of audiences, including millennials and Gen-Ys. The company has just come off a successful run of the
Irish premiere of Reasons to be Pretty by Neil LaBute in Dublin. The Human Ear is their second production, and
first in Vancouver.

About Alexandra Wood (playwright)—The British writer’s plays include The Human Ear, The Empty Quarter,
and Merit. In 2007, she received the George Devine Award for Most Promising Playwright. Wood cites Caryl
Churchill, Martin Crimp, Pinter, Beckett, Arthur Miller, Marius von Mayenburg, Tom Holloway, debbie tucker
green, Will Eno and Mike Bartlett as influences. Her new play Never Vera Blue premieres in Edinburgh in
August.