A collaborative theatre project that took three years to evolve and delves into dementia care on a hospital ward is to tour to six venues across England.
Meeting Ground Theatre Company and the Lakeside Arts in Nottingham got together to produce Inside Out of Mind which is told from the point of view of patients and carers.
NHS trusts are already seeing the play as a useful training tool to develop their dementia strategies—one trust has given the production £10,000.
Professor Justine Schneider from the University of Nottingham’s institute of mental health commissioned Inside out of Mind from extensive observational field notes. It followed an academic study of dementia care in three NHS hospitals.
Lisa Bayliss-Pratt, Health Education England director of nursing, said, “Inside Out of Mind has the potential to help us make a real difference to the practice and the public profile of dementia care.
“Importantly, the play focuses on the carers who are often at risk of being criticised. In doing so it reminds its audience of what difficult work these people do and how this deserves greater recognition.”
Directed by Meeting Ground’s co-artistic director Tanya Myers, Inside Out of Mind opens at Derby Theatre from Wednesday 81 until Saturday 21 February. It then tours to Lakeside Arts, Nottingham from 24 until 28 February, Canterbury from 3 until 6 March, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry from 10 until 13 March, Exeter from 17 until 20 March and Curve, Leicester from 24 until 27 March.