A little trip down Memory Lane…

13 December 2011

The first term of the school year saw The Watermill Theatre present a unique intergenerational project entitled, Memory Lane. Together with 12 young performers from our Associate Youth Theatre and 8 adults from a local sheltered housing group for the elderly, we spent a number of sessions playing games aimed at building confidence, improvising short scenes to perform to each other and immersing ourselves in the wonderful, vivid and varied memories of the adults. We then set about working through a series of exercises in order to breathe a physical life into the stories.

We brainstormed together, created still images and then produced little thirty second plays recreating some of the events we had been told. The young performer’s recollection of the stories was detailed and accurate and allowed us to present very truthful snapshots of the adult’s lives. From the images they had presented in their little plays and from some of the lines we had taken directly from the adults we collated our favourite stories and put together a short script, added some costume and props and staged an energetic and heart-warming performance including a wonderful rendition of The White Cliffs of Dover lead by the adults from Neville Court and Audrey Needham House!

Having spent much of my late teenage and early adult life in the company of my grandparents, I understand first-hand the benefits of a strong relationship with our senior generation and the importance of an oral tradition, where stories are passed down through the generations via conversation and reminiscence. How else are we to get a real sense of the past? Of the people who walk before us? Media coverage has a powerful influence in the shaping and creating of modern history and perception but it distresses and disappoints me to see so many adverse news stories that suggest the relationship between the young and the elderly is one that is built on fear and intimidation. Intergenerational projects such as Memory Lane can make positive steps to alter this by actively encouraging diverse groups of people to engage with each other in a safe and creative environment such as ours here at The Watermill.

It was wonderful to observe the adults working with the young performers and joining in with our energetic drama games like “Zip Zap Boing”, laughing as they did so. Or to watch them contribute to a variety of improvisation exercises. Or to see them overcome their nerves, stand on stage together and sing in front of an audience. The evidence shows that Memory Lane has had a transformative and inspiring effect on the adults. Grace Callaghan, one of the participants from Neville Court, said that being in the company of young people made her “feel young again” and Gladys Ferris, another participant, has expressed her desire to write a play for the group to perform.

And the benefits extend, of course, to the young performers who were able to get a sense of the past through lived experiences and were given the opportunity to ask questions about how the world has changed in the 60 or 70 odd years that separate them. Our conversations about school punishments really captivated their imaginations and shocked them somewhat, as did stories about evacuation and rationing. Other things that became points of interest were the way telephone exchanges worked, the different currency that was in operation during the adult’s childhoods and what the adults got up to on their “first dates”. The answers were always vivid, frank and full of insight.

The performance itself also gave the young participants the opportunity to see first-hand the effect their own creative work can have on other groups of people. In the case of Memory Lane they were performing to two separate audiences almost: one audience was the assembled family and friends, come to watch and support our endeavours. The other was the people whose shoes they were actually standing in, the people who had contributed the stories that had provided the very basis for their scenes. This could well have been the very first live performance these young performers had been involved in and it’s reassuring to know that the relationship between performer and audience was one of warmth, generosity and good spirit. The experience of performing in a project like Memory Lane is sure to be a memorable one and will hopefully go some way towards ensuring that the perception of the elderly as they move on through life is one of respect and admiration.

Julia McMullin, Activities Manager at Neville Court, sums up the positive effect that projects such as Memory Lane can have, with her description of the adults on the day of their visits to The Watermill.  They were “always ready and waiting whenever I went to pick them up. It makes them look forward to the future!” We hope that the experience they have had during their time at The Watermill and the interaction they have had with our wonderful and creative Associate Youth Theatre will have created new memories and going forward we hope that we will become a part of that future!

Clive Judd
Trainee Director – Regional Theatre Young Director Scheme
Director of Memory Lane

For anyone interested in intergenerational work, I would recommend getting hold of a copy of Reminiscence Theatre by Pam Schweitzer, founder of the charity Age Exchange Theatre. As one of the foremost practitioners in this field, she offers a valuable insight into how to use peoples stories as a starting point for creative work. Augusto Boal’s Games for Actors and Non-Actors is also an invaluable resource for suggesting games and exercises for a diverse group of people.