Dementia’s Journey

Dementia’s Journey RiDE proposal will explore the year-long process of a professional writer working creatively and collaboratively with the project’s commission/brief and multiple partners involved in the development of the play, eg Alzheimer’ Society, MIND and NHS. It will explore the commissioning process and what the objectives and outcomes of the project were, and how the need to tell an emotionally engaging and resonant story is balanced with the requirement to raise awareness of the issues involved. A principal element of an issue-led play like this is the requirement to frame or contextualize the play in a culturally appropriate and sensitive environment.

Dementia’s Journey proposal will also explore the demands and challenges of using a cast of older volunteers up to the ages of 73 in the play, some of whom have direct experience of caring for family and relatives with Dementia. It will ask if using volunteers adds to the authenticity and resonance of the play’s message, or if the artistic and aesthetic standards of a performance are more important.