# Lorilei

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{{Short description|2003 play}}
{{Infobox play    
| name       = Lorilei: A Meditation on Loss
| image      = 
| alt        = 
| caption    = 
| writer     = {{plainlist|
* [Tom Wright](/source/Tom_Wright_(Australian_playwright))
* Nicholas Harrington
}}
| based_on   = [Trial transcript](/source/Trial_transcript)s
| characters = Lorilei Guillory
| setting    = 
| premiere   = 2003
| place      = Australia
| orig_lang  = English
| subject    = [Morality of capital punishment](/source/Capital_punishment_debate_in_the_United_States)
| genre      = [Monodrama](/source/Monodrama)<ref name="herbert"/>
| web        = 
}}   
'''''Lorilei: A Meditation on Loss''''' is a 2003 play by [Tom Wright](/source/Tom_Wright_(Australian_playwright)) and Nicholas Harrington, based on a [capital murder](/source/capital_murder) trial in [Louisiana](/source/Louisiana), United States.<ref name="herbert">{{cite news |first=Kate |last=Herbert |title=Lorilei by Tom Wright & Nicholas Harrington |newspaper=[Herald Sun](/source/Herald_Sun) |date=28 October 2003 |url=https://kateherberttheatrereviews.blogspot.com/2003/10/lorilei-tom-wright-nicholas-harrington.html |access-date=1 August 2021}}</ref>

==Theme==
The play tells the true story of Lorilei Guillory, whose six-year-old son, Jeremy, was murdered in 1992 in [Iowa, Louisiana](/source/Iowa%2C_Louisiana), by a man with [schizophrenia](/source/schizophrenia).<ref name="malvern"/> During the second trial of the man convicted of the crime, Ricky Langley, Guillory testified for the defendant, stating her opinion that he was mentally ill at the time of the offence and should not be sentenced to die.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/death-row-defender-1-727840|title=Death row defender|last=Mansfield|first=Susan|date=2005-08-09|newspaper=[The Scotsman](/source/The_Scotsman)|pages=33|accessdate=2016-04-10}}</ref><ref name="billington">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2005/feb/22/theatre |title=Lorilei |first=Michael |last=Billington |newspaper=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian) |date=22 February 2005 |access-date=14 July 2021}}</ref> The retrial ended in a verdict of [diminished capacity](/source/diminished_capacity), rather than the original [death sentence](/source/death_sentence).<ref name="billington"/>

A [solo performance](/source/solo_performance), the play is presented as a narrative constructed from the transcripts of the trial.<ref name="Shabbir"/> It explores Guillory's struggle with the loss of her young child but also her compassion for the man who killed him.<ref name="Shabbir"/>

==Staging and reception==
First staged in 2003 in Australia, the play has been presented around the world including at the [Edinburgh Fringe](/source/Edinburgh_Fringe) in 2005.<ref name="herbert"/><ref name="evans">{{cite news |title=Spectator |first=Lloyd |last=Evans |work=[Theatre Record](/source/Theatre_Record) |page=225 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=spQrAQAAIAAJ |year=2005}}</ref><ref name="malvern">{{cite news|url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/article1936809.ece|title=Play stages attack on death penalty |last=Malvern |first=Jack |date=2005-08-13 |newspaper=[The Times](/source/The_Times) |pages=34|accessdate=2016-04-10}}</ref> Reviewing the 2005 London staging at [The Old Red Lion](/source/The_Old_Red_Lion%2C_Islington), ''[Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)'' critic [Michael Billington](/source/Michael_Billington_(critic)) gave the play four stars out of five, calling it an "extraordinary evening" and explaining that, after watching the play and listening to an after-show discussion, "one comes to understand how it is possible for mercy to triumph over revenge."<ref name="billington"/> An [adaptation for radio](/source/radio_drama) by [BBC Radio 4](/source/BBC_Radio_4) won the [2007 Sony Radio Award](/source/25th_Sony_Radio_Academy_Awards) for Drama.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6610609.stm |title=Sony Radio Awards: The winners |work=BBC News |date=1 May 2007 |access-date=14 July 2021}}</ref>

In 2014, the Justice Project Pakistan commissioned an [Urdu](/source/Urdu) translation of the play.<ref name="Shabbir">{{cite news |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/magazine/instep-today/82979-Lorilei-turns-the-tables-on-human-morality |title=Lorilei turns the tables on human morality |first=Buraq |last=Shabbir |date=19 December 2015 |newspaper=[The News International](/source/The_News_International) |access-date=14 July 2021}}</ref><ref name="tribune">{{cite news |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1009907/between-crime-and-punishment |title=Between crime and punishment |date=14 December 2015 |newspaper=[The Express Tribune](/source/The_Express_Tribune) |access-date=1 August 2021}}</ref> A company toured Pakistan presenting the English and Urdu versions on alternating dates.<ref name="tribune"/> ''[The News International](/source/The_News_International)'' praised actor [Nimra Bucha](/source/Nimra_Bucha) for her performance in English and described the story as deliberately slow-paced but "instantly gripping".<ref name="Shabbir"/> Reviewing [Sania Saeed](/source/Sania_Saeed)'s performance of the Urdu version, ''[Dawn](/source/Dawn_(newspaper))'' said she showed "the kind of emotional investment in the script which makes art reflect life".<ref name="Salman">{{cite news |url=https://images.dawn.com/news/1174474 |title=Lorelei: Between forgiving and forgetting |first=Peerzada |last=Salman |newspaper=[Dawn](/source/Dawn_(newspaper)) |date=19 December 2015 |access-date=1 August 2021}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

Category:2003 plays
Category:2007 audio plays
Category:Murder in Louisiana
Category:Capital punishment in Louisiana
Category:Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana
Category:Plays based on real people
Category:Plays for one performer
Category:2000s Australian plays
Category:Urdu-language plays
Category:Translations into Urdu
Category:Works about capital punishment
Category:Plays set in Louisiana

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Lorilei](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorilei) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorilei?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.