COMMISSIONED as part of Coventry UK City of Culture 2021, OiBokkeShi Theatre company (Okayama, Japan) have teamed up with Entelechy Arts (south east London) to devise a bespoke theatre performance for a high street in east Coventry.
Shop keepers, care workers, school children, police officers and residents have worked together to uncover and share hidden stories about one of our society’s greatest challenges, dementia.
David Slater, associate of Entelechy Arts and co-director of Theatre of Wandering said: “We work towards empowerment through co-creation giving agency to everyone taking part in a shared creation.
“This creative process can shape places and establish what ‘care’ within a city looks like.
“We hope this unique work for Coventry helps more people feel at home in the public spaces of their city.”
Theatre of Wandering is a collaborative performance drawing upon Coventry city’s community experiences and reflections about what it is to live with dementia.
The audience is invited to join a walk-about theatrical experience and follow one person’s journey, wandering through Coventry city centre or online.
Richard Walls, writer and dramaturg said: “By 2040, an estimated 1.6 million of us in the UK will be living with dementia, so it’s something that many of us have experienced either directly or indirectly.
“Yet it still feels hidden in some ways – we often have a tendency to hide it away and pretend it isn’t happening.
“Theatre of Wandering for Coventry has given us an opportunity to discover and share the effects of dementia on the community through theatre.”
Theatre of Wandering will be performed live and live-streamed online as part of the Coventry City of Culture in September 2021.
