Lil and Lem's world has been torn apart by loss. In an attempt to escape his grief Lem has retreated into the imaginary world of Gulliver's Travels. Now he believes he's adventurer and author Lemuel Gulliver; a man on a mission to save humanity from itself. As a result, Lil has her own mission of mercy to perform. No matter what the cost, she must find a way to drag this broken man out of his fantasy. She must find a way to bring him home.
Inspired by Jonathan Swift's savage masterpiece Gulliver's Travels, Gulliver Returns is a haunting new play about broken dreams and enduring love. Raging, tragic and magical, it digs deep into the heart of Swift's sweeping epic to reveal the story of a grieving couple trying to put themselves back together in a world that's tearing itself apart. First published in 1726, Swift's ground-breaking epic has never been out of print. In 2013 it was voted number three in the Guardian's list of the hundred greatest novels ever written, and its profound influence on modern fiction looms large over many of the great dystopian novels of the 19th and 20th centuries, including Orwell's 1984. Dawn State makes dynamic new work inspired by classic texts and forgotten stories. Its productions connect the most important questions of today with the shared narratives of our past to create theatre that is urgent, passionate and timeless. The company was formed in 2012 through an R&D Project supported by the Royal Shakespeare Company called A Fever Longing Still. Their full debut production The Man Who Would Be King began at the Edinburgh Festival in 2014 before transferring to Oxford Playhouse Studio and VAULT Festival London in 2015. Their other productions include The Wonderful Discovery of Witches (Edinburgh and London) and The Man Who Would Be King (UK tour). Dawn State is led by director and producer Dan Coleman and supported by English Touring Theatre through their ETT Forge development programme.Videos