Theatre and Trauma Blog Post

Read our blog on Theatre and Trauma published by National Centre for Mental Health

http://ncmh.info/blog/2015/10/01/coming-home/ 

Creative Groupwork Programme

We are currently working with veterans and family members on a 10 week creative groupwork programme. There will be an informal sharing of work in progress, by veterans and family members at Chapter

On Fri Nov 13th at 12pm

If you would like to attend, contact us to reserve a place alison@re-live.org.uk

Coming Home

Thanks to a generous grant from the Armed Forces Community Covenant in partnership with Cardiff Council, we are developing our theatre based work with veterans and families. Coming Home is a year-long programme which will commence with a 10 week groupwork programme at Chapter this September. We are delighted that Andy Watson, Artistic Director of Geese Theatre (www.geese.co.uk) will be joining us on this project as a guest practitioner. The project will culminate in 2016 with a performance in which veterans and family members will work alongside members of the wider community to create a powerful testament to their experiences of coming home from conflict.

Re-Live in Sydney - Autumn 2015

We have been invited to present Re-Live’s work at an international
conference in Sydney this autumn! The Art of Health and Wellbeing is
an annual event bringing together global practitioners and researchers
in the field of Arts and Health. We are grateful to the inspirational
Margret Meagher at Arts and Health Australia for this exciting
opportunity. http://artsandhealth.org/

People Living with Dementia

We are developing our creative work with people living with dementia through a 6 week project with our fantastic Memoria group. We are delighted to have Gilly Adams working with us on this project. A huge thanks to Melissa Beard, an inspiring O.T. who ran a half marathon to raise money for the Memoria group to continue. Melissa – this project would not be happening without your hard work! There will be an informal sharing of work on June 17th at Chapter. This performance will then be shared at wales first National Dementia conference on Sept 3rd. 

Life Story Theatre Programme

We spent a fantastic day with a like-minded group of practitioners developing ideas for a life story theatre programme for people in prison called Growing Old Inside. Andy Watson, Artistic Director of Geese Theatre, Ruth Chitty from The Forgiveness Project and theatre director, Bridget Keehan spent the day with us at Chapter sharing experiences of theatre and storytelling work in prison settings within a restorative framework. We are in contact with Parc Prison in Bridgend about the possibility of piloting the project there. There is a huge lack of meaningful activity for long term prisoner and lifers and the cuts in the criminal justice system are set to deepen. We are on the look out for potential funders for this innovative piece of work…

Home from Home

Our brand new film “Home from Home” was launched in Chapter cinema this month with a reception hosted by Care Council of Wales. The film, commissioned by Care Council of Wales and supported by Welsh Government is an emotional, hard-hitting look at one family’s experience of moving into residential care alongside the experience of a new care worker entering the field. Feedback was very positive and this film will now be piloted across Wales as a training tool for new social care staff. Fantastic performances from the superb cast and many thanks to cast and crew for an excellent piece of work.  

Memoria

Thank you to everyone who came to see Memoria in Chapter theatre or watched the performance online. Your help in spreading the word has enabled thousands of people in over 12 countries to watch the show! We have received an extraordinary response to the performance. Thank you for getting in touch to share your thoughts and feelings. We value each and every one of your responses. 

"Never before have I been so touched and so affected by a trip to the theatre. The performance was astounding." 

"I've learnt more about dementia in one evening than in 4 years of medical school" 

“Thank you for a moving, informative, beautifully-staged performance. Thank you to everyone for your honesty & bravery”

"Life affirming, beautiful and sensitive. I loved every second of it"

"Having worked in care for 30 years this is one programme I will always remember watching - thank you!" 

"Immensely moved watching Memoria last Saturday. Incredibly valuable theatre. Humanity shines" 

Click here to watch Memoria online.

Belonging

We are really excited about “Belonging” which gets its premiere this week!! Thanks to the Arts Council of Wales support, Karin has been able to spend the last 6 months researching and writing this new piece. She has spoken with many people with direct experience of dementia and greatly appreciates their time, honesty and courage in sharing their stories. The last few weeks have seen the script come to life in the hands of 4 fantastic actors. We are giving 4 pilot performances this week in Cardiff and Llandrindod Wells for an invited audience of NHS staff, carers, artists and people with personal experience of dementia in their family and friends. We are curious and hopeful about how the piece will be received…we will then be focusing on touring this piece around the UK and getting the message to as many people as possible that dementia does not need to remain a stigma. The more we talk about it, the better things become!

Playback Theatre

We have had an interesting experience of having Playback Theatre practitoners Rea Dennis, (University of South Wales) and Magda Miranda on a short placement with us. They offered us an exciting glimpse into Playback Theatre – both its methodology and practical applications. As a company we have been able to experiment with music, improvisation, sculptures and group exercises and exchange ideas and skills. Re-Live has now acquired an additional set of tools to further develop their storytelling theatre work in an Arts in Health context.