Dementia-friendly Opera to Be Staged at St Margaret's Church

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The Music Troupe performing two short works based on Lorca text

Picture: The Music Troupe

August 28, 2024

A dementia-friendly performance of two operatic vignettes adapted from texts by Federico García Lorca is to be held at St Margaret’s Church, Putney .

On Friday 13 September, The Music Troupe will perform 'The Parting and Buster's Trip' on Putney Park Lane (SW15 5HU) from 3pm – 4.30pm (doors open 2.30pm).

Entry is free but tickets should be booked in advance online.

The production is being staged in partnership with The Geller Institute of Ageing and Memory (GIAM) and the London College of Music (LCM).

“Dementia-Friendly Opera aims to give people living with dementia and their loved ones an opportunity to enjoy new experiences and engage with their community and the arts in a safe yet authentic environment,” says Dr Andy Northcott, Senior Lecturer in Sociology of Medicine within GIAM at UWL.

Dr Andy Northcott and Professor Katie Featherstone, Director of GIAM, were at the forefront of pioneering dementia-friendly cinema in 2017 which is now widely available across the country. Their goal is that the same will happen with Dementia-friendly opera.

This production builds on a dementia-friendly event in 2023 that received national and international media attention. GIAM’s vision is to bring diverse communities together to experience performance, destigmatising dementia, and promoting the social connections that have been proven to improve quality of life for older people and reducing the risk of dementia itself.

It comprises two short chamber pieces, presented in their full forms as they will be later in the year in theatres. The Music Troupe wish to expand Opera from well-worn theatre venues to find new audiences in smaller, more intimate spaces. The Troupe’s director Edward Lambert says, "Talk about opera usually concerns a small body of work by composers of the past; I wanted to show how the repertory can be renewed with contemporary works that are economic to produce and practical to move around."

The dementia-friendly performance is open to all and will be shown as it would be to any audience. The venue will be staffed by professionals experienced in working with people living with dementia, alongside first aiders and trained volunteers. The performance is relaxed, and people can move around, speak, and leave as they need to without fear of embarrassment or reprimand. There will be quiet areas for those who may not enjoy the performance or cannot sit through the whole production.

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