FINDING JOY THROUGH ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY’S (RSC) ACCESS WORK
FINDING JOY THROUGH ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY’S (RSC) ACCESS WORK
- Award winning dementia friendly productions Finding Joy and Sharing Joy at The Other Place
- www.rsc.org.uk/finding-joy
- Dementia Friends training for 150 staff
- Chilled performances of Miss Littlewood, The Merry Wives of Windsor and Finding Joy
Dementia-friendly theatre company Vamos will be bringing their award-winning production, Finding Joy, to the Royal Shakespeare Company’s The Other Place theatre from 9 – 10 November, as part of a wider initiative by the RSC to make their theatre more accessible to people living with dementia.
The performance is part of a series of work by the RSC, including a separate performance directly for people living with dementia and their carers, a dementia café, and rolling out training to induct 150 Dementia Friends by the end of the year.
Finding Joy is based on the true-life story of Danny, an 18-year-old boy, who looked after his grandmother, Joy, as she made her way through middle and late stage dementia. Danny’s methods were unorthodox, but he was a natural carer and looked after her with an inspiring freshness and positivity and always with total respect for her changing reality.
Joy is 83. She is funny, loves to dance, and is losing her memory. Her grandson Danny is rebellious, bright and always getting into trouble. When Danny decides to look after Joy, they discover a shared playfulness and a mutual affection. But is that enough to take on the challenges ahead?
Approaching the subject of dementia with humour and humanity, Finding Joy has performed to audiences across Europe and the UK, including a successful run at Assembly for Edinburgh Fringe 2016. Praised by press and public alike for its consummate full mask skills, engaging storytelling, physical dexterity and emotional insight, the company continues to involve and engage audiences across borders and boundaries with its wordless theatre.
Before their performance in November, the RSC will be welcoming Vamos to TOP to stage their alternate production, Sharing Joy, on 29 July. Sharing Joy is a special performance staged exclusively for people living with dementia, designed specifically with their comfort in mind.
These performances will be complemented by a dementia café in TOP, also on 29 July.
Vamos’ productions are extremely accessible due to their human and highly visual nature. The wordless nature of the performances also makes a Vamos show fully accessible to d/Deaf audiences without the need of a signer.
RSC staff are undergoing training to become Dementia Friends, so they can provide support to people living with dementia during these performances and year-round. The RSC has committed to training 150 of its staff as Dementia Friends, including its Front of House, Back of House and office staff. Dementia Friends learn more about dementia, which in turn means they can help those living with dementia more easily, and wear a badge so people know they can approach them for help.
The RSC will also be staging three new Chilled performances, ideal for people living with dementia. Finding Joy’s Chilled performance will be the matinee on 10 November, while a Chilled performance of The Merry Wives of Windsor will be performed on 8 September. The third Chilled performance is of the RSC’s new musical Miss Littlewood on 1 August.
A chilled performance takes a more casual approach to noise and movement in the auditorium, but the performance itself is completely unchanged. This performance welcomes everyone and is particularly ideal for people who feel more at ease knowing they can go in and out of the auditorium during the show including people with dementia.
NOTES TO EDITORS
For more information about this press release please contact Emily Magdij on 01789 412657, 07920 541729 or Emily.magdij@rsc.org.uk
Miss Littlewood is a new musical about theatre director Joan Littlewood. Previews begin in the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon on 22 June 2018.
With book, music and lyrics by Sam Kenyon and directed by Deputy Artistic Director, Erica Whyman, Miss Littlewood tells the story of Joan Littlewood, the anarchic revolutionary of 20th century theatre.
Born into poverty, Joan Littlewood raged her way to have lasting influence on British culture. Anti-establishment, communist, visionary, rude and glorious, Joan fired the imagination of a generation. Her unique Theatre Workshop was responsible for a raft of successes including Oh, What A Lovely War!, A Taste of Honey and The Hostage, and breathed new life into the then-derelict Theatre Royal Stratford East . This new musical of Joan's life story, told with her own uncompromising candour, reveals a mighty love story at its heart.
The work of the RSC Literary Department is generously supported by THE DRUE HEINZ TRUST
The Royal Shakespeare Company creates theatre at its best, made in Stratford-upon-Avon and shared around the world.
Everyone at the RSC - from actors to armourers, musicians to technicians - plays a part in creating the world you see on stage. All our productions begin life at our Stratford workshops and theatres and we bring them to the widest possible audience through our touring, residencies, live broadcasts and online activity. So, wherever you experience the RSC, you experience work made in Shakespeare’s home town. We have trained generations of the very best theatre makers and we continue to nurture the talent of the future. We encourage everyone to enjoy a lifelong relationship with Shakespeare and live theatre. We reach 530,000 children and young people annually through our education work, transforming their experiences in the classroom, in performance and online. Registered charity No. 212481 www.rsc.org.uk
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