Moving Day is a new show from Entelechy Arts’ theatre company Glorious Age
Moving Day is a new show from Entelechy Arts’ theatre company Glorious Age. The story is based on the reality of older people’s day-to-day experiences of having to leave home and facing eviction. It’s performed outdoors in Lewisham to be discovered by locals going about their everyday life. Moving Day is co-commissioned by We Are Lewisham, the Mayor’s London Borough of Culture 2022 and with funding from the British Council’s International Collaboration Grants to work with Japanese theatre company OiBokkeShi.
Glorious Age theatre company are a collective of age 65+ Lewisham residents who make theatre to challenge the preconceptions about ageing. Glorious Age is working with lead artist Remi Graves and movement artist Sheba Montserrat to devise Moving Day through their personal experiences. Their work addresses issues they see as important happening in their communities right now.
Moving Day is the story of resilience and community. A woman in her late seventies is facing eviction from the neighbourhood that she loves and has grown older in. Her home is being demolished to make way for a redevelopment scheme and she is being forced to move away from the community that she has contributed to as a mother, a good neighbour and a local activist. When she has a chance meeting with a younger neighbour, there is potential for something different to happen. A new story unfolds, posing the question of how we can reimagine ‘community’ across generational divides.
With the regeneration of cities and the rise in the cost of living combined with an ageing population, older people have fewer possibilities to remain in the homes and places familiar to them. Through Moving Day, Glorious Age is sharing the experiences of older people while proposing compelling solutions and ideas for change.
Members of Glorious Age said: “Moving home can be one of the most stressful situations we face in life and when you’re forced to move by circumstances out of your control, that can add to the worries. Moving home provokes so many questions: What do you take with you? What do you leave behind? What happens next in your life? Where do you belong? Who cares?”
Moving Day represents a pivotal moment when so much that is familiar, the relationships and reference points that have nourished life, are left behind.
Remi Graves lead artist said: “it feels like a ripe opportunity to speak to what’s happening at the moment in terms of how untenable living has become, in the midst of regeneration and London becoming more luxurious and more expensive. Glorious Age came up with this plan to devise this work together to tell their experiences through this story directly and honestly.”
Moving Day is a part-improvised and part-scripted immersive show performed in Lewisham Shopping Centre and at Deptford Lounge as part of We Are Lewisham. As well as pre-booking, the show is a promenade performance that can be ‘stumbled upon’ unexpectedly.
Remi Graves, lead artist said: “I’m hoping that it’ll be an opportunity for the audience to reflect on their own relationships with young people alongside older people, reflecting on the important people in their life. The whole idea of the play being set in a public space encourages audiences to feel that they are part of the piece. To have them reflect on what goes on in their own communities that might be overlooked. Another reason for having it in a public space rather than a traditional theatre is that we want to bring this story and issue out into public spaces and amongst local people who could relate not only to the story but also to their location because it’s where they walk up and down every day.”
Moving Day is having a wider impact on Lewisham during its process of development with Glorious Age working in consultation with representatives from local housing, health and care teams. They have been enquiring how formal and informal local structures of support could achieve greater synergy to support the well-being of the most vulnerable elders in the community.
David Slater, Associate of Entelechy Arts and Co-Director of Moving Day said: “Our population is ageing rapidly and sadly many older people in our communities are still seen as being frail and dependent and a burden to society. They are rarely recognised and valued for the contributions they have made, and continue to make to the world about them. People seeing this show may find that it resonates and connects with circumstances in their own lives or those of an elderly relative, friend or neighbour. Perhaps some people may leave with a gentle nudge to think a little differently about ageing and community.”
Vicki Amedume, Artistic Director at the Albany said: “the Albany has been proudly working alongside Entelechy Arts for several years now, and we’re excited that they are playing a part in our London Borough of Culture programme. This project falls under our Here Now Us strand, which is designed to shine a light on communities who may be underrepresented or even invisible in Lewisham. This is something Entelechy Arts do incredibly well and I’m looking forward to watching this moving show about an issue that affects so many in our borough.”
Moving Day will be performed live at Lewisham Shopping Centre and Deptford Lounge as part of We Are Lewisham, the Mayor’s London Borough of Culture 2022. For information and tickets click here.