Grandma Remember Me from Leon Lockley on Vimeo.
Exploring the journey of dementia
Grandma Remember Me? is a beautiful story told through a mix of puppetry, drama and storytelling. It is written from the perspective of a young child, Lilly, whose Grandma develops Alzheimer’s disease. It explores their changing relationship from Lilly’s initial recognition that there is something wrong with her grandma, through the unfolding challenges and final acceptance and understanding of the disease.
It explores the wider impact on family, the need for support and understanding within our communities and the importance of memories and relationships within our lives and how to keep and treasure them. It is a piece of high quality theatre, very powerful, realistic and deeply moving.
Grandma Remember Me? was initially developed and produced in Oct/Nov 2012 from a research and development grant from the Arts Council, FEAST and The Works. It was performed to a diverse section of people and the evaluation undertaken were outstanding.
The Spring Tour took place in March and May 2013, sponsored by Cornwall Council and NHS Cornwall & The Isles of Scilly Primary Care Trust, The Arts Council, The Works and His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales Duke of Cornwall. Evaluations from this tour were also outstanding and identified a variety of groups who wanted to use the play as an innovative and impactful way to train and educate people about dementia.
Based on these evaluations a national tour was undertaken in December 2013 developing the idea of using the play as an innovative training tool to support awareness and education around dementia. This tour was supported by the Arts Council, Cornwall Council and NHS Cornwall & The Isles of Scilly Primary Care Trust.
NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCES
Demand for Grandma Remember Me? continues to grow. It has now had 5 national tours and has been used as an impactful, innovative training tool by an eclectic range of organisations. It is now embedded within the curriculum with a number of universities, embraced as a creative & empathetic way to understand the progression of dementia and the wider impact it has.
In November 2014 Grandma Remember Me? found an international platform, supported by Alzheimer’s Disease International. Performances took place at Shiv Nadar School, Gurgaon and Nirmal Bhartia School, Dwarks in New Delhi, India.
It was also performed at the National School of Drama in New Delhi as part of “JashneBachpan” a National Theatre Festival for Children.
Grandma Remember Me? has been performed twice at the Houses of Parliament for MPs, representatives of the House of Lords and specialists within the field of dementia.
Having seen the play, Baroness Greengross, Chair of the APPG on dementia said: “This plays should have been shown at the G8 Summit on Dementia”
The value of Grandma Remember Me? as an exciting, innovative training tool has been recognised by many within the field of dementia. It engages on an emotional level which impacts positive change. Audiences have included:
Health, Social & Childcare Services
Professional bodies within the field of dementia.
Development & training agencies
Families, Carers and people with dementia
Dementia Friendly Town Initiative
MP’s and representatives from the House of Lords
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