A post from Setpember 2016 mentions the TVAF Dementia Poetry Project
The video below shows the performance piece staged as part of the TVAF 25 year celebrations at The Lights in Andover on Thursday 17th November. Thanks to Anna Carr for stepping in to read Caro Reeves’ part when Caro had to drop out due to illness. This includes words from dementia patients and their carers, overheard snippets at Demfest, and Caro’s descriptions of incidents with hospital patients.
(Yes we know it’s TeaPoet, not TeaPot !)
This piece was followed by young people from the Barton Stacey Village Independent Player Youth Group performing ‘The Scandal of the Andover Workhouse’ and after the interval ‘And Now We Tell Our Tale’ showed the impact on Andover of the overspill from London during the redevelopment of the late 1960s and early 1970s. There was certainly a lot to be learned about Andover’s history (at least from the perspective of a non-Andoverian). After the evening’s performances in the theatre, we were treated to music from The Might Hump in the foyer.
The objective of the TVAF@25 project had been to celebrate 25 years of the Test Valley Arts Foundation through 25 different projects throughout the autumn of 2016. This way it planned to maximise engagement with the public, and the full house in the Lights theatre for the evening’s event proved how successful it had been.
The creators of the dementia performance (which I have given a working title of Lost) are hoping to develop the piece further. Ideas include the use of projections and music. Watch this space !
Leave a Reply