Ithaca artist premieres solo show ‘Koans at the End of Life’ on hospice and healing

This fall, local hospice social worker and writer Kira Lallas invites audiences to experience her deeply personal and moving one-woman performance, Koans at the End of Life: A Hospice Worker’s Story. The production offers a rare and intimate exploration into the world of end-of-life care, drawing on Lallas’ years of professional experience and personal reflections.

In this poignant monologue, Lallas blends vivid storytelling with moments of quiet introspection, sharing real-life encounters and insights from 15 years in hospice and palliative care. Before her career in social work, Lallas was a theatre artist. Her original work Translations of Xhosa, based on her experiences in South Africa, earned the Charles MacArthur Prize for Outstanding New Play and a nomination for the Helen Hayes Award for both writing and performance. She later co-wrote Performing Therapy and Bones with Camilla Schade.

Through her stories in Koans at the End of Life, Lallas invites the audience to reflect on mortality, presence, and the meaning that can emerge from life’s most vulnerable moments and tells her own personal story of how she came to work in hospice, which includes adventures in Africa and meditation retreat. “I want to invite contemplation on how the end of life can illuminate our own experience, and a renewed sense of connection to our shared humanity,” Lallas said.

This performance promises to be a deeply moving and contemplative experience that will resonate long after the final curtain. Whether you’ve personally walked beside someone at the end of their life or are simply curious about the beauty that can emerge in moments of vulnerability, Koans at the End of Life will leave a lasting impact.

Event Details:

Koans at the End of Life: A Hospice Worker’s Story

Written and performed by Kira Lallas

Dates and times:

• Sunday, September 28 at 4:00 PM (doors open at 3:30)
• Sunday, October 5 at 7:00 PM (doors open at 6:30)

Location:  Argos Warehouse, 416 E State Street, Ithaca, NY

Tickets: $20 at the door; seating is limited – reserve in advance at EventBrite

About the artist: Kira Lallas began her artistic journey in the theater, co-founding and serving as president of the Orange Tree Theatre Company, a youth-led initiative creating theater by and for young people. As a teenager, she worked with the Hangar Theatre, Kitchen Theatre in Ithaca before earning her BFA in Theatre from Boston University, where she studied solo writing and performance under Jon Lipsky.

Lallas’ original work Translations of Xhosa, based on her experiences in South Africa, was performed at the Kennedy Center as a winner of the American College Theatre Festival, and nominated for the Helen Hayes Charles MacArthur Prize for Outstanding New Play.  She later co-wrote Performing Therapy and Bones in collaboration with Camilla Schade.

For the past 15 years, Lallas has brought her creative and empathetic skills to the field of clinical social work, specializing in adult hospice, perinatal and pediatric palliative care, and grief counseling. She currently maintains a private practice in Ithaca, where she continues to support individuals and families through life’s most complex transitions.