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Opera
The Geller Institute of Ageing and Memory (GIAM), London College of Music (LCM) and The Music Troupe hosted a free, dementia-friendly production of new opera The Last Siren (30 August 2023) at Lawrence Hall at UWL in Ealing.
Opera body
This new, contemporary opera took a fresh look at the Greek myth from Homer’s Odyssey with music by Edward Lambert, libretto by Norman Welch and directed by Jenny Weston.
Dr Andy Northcott, Senior Lecturer in Sociology of Medicine within the Geller Institute of Ageing and Memory (GIAM) at UWL, said:
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”
This new development is part of GIAM’s vision of bringing diverse communities together to experience new genres and meet new people, to promote not only longer lives but fun and fulfilled ones. This vision complemented The Music Troupe's wish to expand outside of well-worn theatre venues in order to find new audiences for opera in smaller, more intimate spaces.
Edward Lambert said:
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."
A well-established, global body of research over the last 25 years demonstrates how music can minimise the distress and agitation associated with dementia, and can also be used to promote reminiscence and strengthen memory, recall and even recital. While seeing somebody living with dementia remember old times through familiar music can be valuable, reminiscence can also become a test that a person can too often fail. This prompted GIAM to explore showcasing a new work, providing a new experience without the burden of recall and lost memory.
The Last Siren was open to all and shown as it would be to any audience. Unique to this performance was the safety of the venue, staffed by professionals experienced in working with people living with dementia. The auditorium was set out to minimise fall risks and the audience were permitted to move around, speak and leave, removing the usual social stigma associated with interrupting a performance. There were quiet areas for those who didn't enjoy the performance or couldn't sit through the whole production, and volunteers were on hand to assist with guidance to toilets and other facilities.
The performance was preceded by a short dementia-friendly workshop, explaining how the opera worked and giving the audience an opportunity to sing along.
The aim of this collaboration was to develop and refine a toolkit that can be used by other organisations for putting on a variety of dementia-friendly performances at venues across the country, laying the foundations for any opera production to become accessible and dementia friendly.
It was difficult to overestimate the power of the opera itself. Once the music started the powerful singing mesmerised and enraptured the audience, much like the titular Sirens of the performance. Nobody moved from their seat from beginning to end.
Maria, attending the performance alongside her partner Roy, said:
It just takes you away, its takes you somewhere. It’s very hard, with somebody with dementia, and when you hear the music it’s amazing, you just suddenly feel alive.”
One audience member said:
Coming here today has been so good, because of the music, it’s just like reviving your brain, a new energy as well. Anything like today, I’m just, just so impressed. The more of this the merrier."
Cinema
Professor Katie Featherstone, Director of GIAM, and Dr Andy Northcott were at the forefront of pioneering dementia-friendly cinema in 2017 which is now widely available across the country. They hope that the same will happen with Dementia Friendly Opera.
Cinema body
Andy’s work with opera builds on a longstanding programme of developing ‘dementia friendly’ and ‘relaxed environment’ events in collaboration with arts venues. Our NIHR research identified the isolation experienced by people living with dementia, their care partners and families in the community, and in response, we initiated and led a national programme taking an evidence-based approach to reducing social exclusion in collaboration with the Arts sector. Designing dementia friendly cinema was novel at inception and identified as a 'notable practice' within Welsh Government Dementia strategy 'Together for a Dementia Friendly Wales'.
We delivered a programme of monthly dementia-friendly screenings that were attended by between 20-100 members of the public and covered by The Guardian and the BBC. Cinema-goers had an opportunity to chat with each other and staff, there were refreshments and the auditorium was adapted to be as calming and comfortable as possible. This collaboration provides access to partners across Wales, UK, and internationally.
Further information
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