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Thro the Door |
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| Many
members of Thro the Door have experienced huge changes in their lives,
having moved back into communities in Lewisham and Southwark after
decades of living out of town in long-stay hospitals. Theatre has
been one way of recognising the experiences of the past and gaining
confidence to deal with the challenges of the future. Sometimes the
group has used theatre making as an excuse for wild escapism, throwing
together unconventional takes on pantomime stories. At other times
it has been used to share fragments of stories remembered from the
oppressive institutional regimes that most members of the group have
survived. "Mary" was a touring, group-devised performance, telling the story of a woman with learning disabilities who lived in house supported by professional care staff. Particular members of staff had no respect for residents' needs and choices. The quality of people's day-to-day lives was seriously affected by a professional negligence. The performance used Forum Theatre techniques to engage audiences in exploring practical strategies that would enable Mary and her fellow residents to effect changes in their lives. In Forum Theatre audiences are able to stop the theatre action and directly step onto the stage and into the lives of the protagonists to try out ways of making things different. |
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| The
success of the "Mary" project led to a video and training pack for
people with learning disabilities, illustrating ways in which social
services complaints procedures could be used to make changes where
people received poor quality services. Members of Thro the Door have participated in other larger scale performance events. "Century" was a large music theatre event bringing together a large intergenerational cast of over sixty performers. Children and young people with and without disabilities shared the stage with performers in their eighties, weaving together of people's life experiences during the last Century. |
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