Each Piece, a new play from Live Theatre and Northumbria University which focuses on dementia, is to be given a script-in-hand performance at the Newcastle Quayside venue.
It was written and directed by Steve Gilroy, Principal Lecturer in Performing Arts at Northumbria, as part of a three-year partnership between the two organisations that seeks to create cultural collaborations that connect with the people of the North East, enhance teaching and learning, inspire new research and connect academic research with the world of professional theatre.
The play is a work-in-progress, based on real life interviews with people living with dementia and their carers, supported by The Essence Service which helps people in Sunderland with dementia to ensure they can have the best quality of life for as long as possible.
“It’s the culmination of a year of research,” said Gilroy, “and a chance for audiences to gain a deeper understanding of how life can dramatically change for people diagnosed with dementia. People spoke with such honesty about their experiences, sharing amazing personal stories about their lives and relationships. These are a collection of stories about memories; some reveal true hardship, but alongside compassion, resilience and laughter.”
He is the author of two other verbatim productions for Live Theatre: Motherland, which premièred in 2007 and went on a national tour in 2009, and The Prize (with Richard Stockwell) which played at the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe.
Newcastle born singer-songwriter Richard Dawson provides the music for the show.
The cast for the script-in-hand performance (tickets £6) are among the region’s leading actors: Chris Connel (Close The Coalhouse Door, The Pitmen Painters), Helen Embleton (Motherland, The Prize), Jess Johnston (Key Change, Anti-Gravity), Pete Peverly (The Tempest, The Bobby Thompson Story) and Laura Norton (Nativities, Faith & Cold Reading).
Each Piece runs at Live on 27 and 28 January at 8PM.