The lockdown has changed the nature of this year’s Living Memory project – but it hasn’t stopped Act Two coming together to create something special.
Act Two has taken part in Living Memory, a unique intergenerational project in partnership with Age UK Merton and the Merton Dementia Hub, for the past two years.
In summer 2018 and 2019, they created and performed sold out shows at New Wimbledon Theatre’s Studio that played homage to the childhood memories of local elders they met and interviewed at the Dementia Hub and Wimbledon Guild.
In March 2020, Act Two was preparing to launch Living Memory 3…but the lockdown changed the nature of this year’s project. Unable to visit participants in person, as they had in previous years, Act Two decided to make something special for them instead.
They have devised Lockdown Cabaret, an online variety show to bring smiles and laughter to local elders and care home residents, featuring comic turns, songs, dances and satirical sketches – all designed to lift the spirits.
Working with their Age UK and Dementia Hub partners in mind, as well as local care homes including Kew House, the video is a performance devised by the young actors from their living rooms, bedrooms and gardens while under lockdown.
Act Two recognised that people in care homes who have been shielded, and may not have seen friends and family for many weeks, really deserve some fun. They also wanted to continue the work of Living Memory this summer, developing their intergenerational bond in our community, and making sure that our older residents know they are in our thoughts.
Watch this space for a link to the show and we hope everyone will be cheered by this once-in-a-lifetime cabaret!
More shows to look out for online
As well as Act Two’s cabaret, stand by for Act One’s production of The Fairground. A group of young teens find themselves lost, scared and alone in a haunted fairground. Can they find each other and work out a way to get back home? Expect thrills and spills in this comically macabre ghost story.
And Act Three presents: Isolation. An online detention. A leader with a guilty secret and an outsider who’s out for revenge…
All three shows will be freely available to watch online – we can’t wait to share them with you.