THE CARETAKERS
Commissioned by the Arts Council in collaboration with Liminal Creative
Louise Cole from Liminal Creative came to me late last year (December 2022) with an idea that she’d been brewing for years, a street performance which illustrated the experience of memory loss from the perspective of a person with Dementia, and the people who are close to them.
This performance was to include a central prop which would work as an allegory for the mind, and would form the appearance of a cabinet of curiosities style cart. As someone with a background of construction of prop making, this became a fascinating project to me, and the concept of creating a theatrical prop with a rich narrative started to brew in me.
After being successful for Arts Council funding, the project started rolling when the collective joined together in Stockton for an artist residency at ARC, Stockton Arts Centre. I was given two references to work from initially with the design and that was the traditional Victorian style cabinet of curiosities and the Studio Gibli film ‘Howls Moving Castle’.
Louise, Creative Director of Liminal Creative maintained the heart of the project and the poignant message it aimed to nurture with the performance. Together with Director Lucy Enskat, the show was constructed as a non verbal performance which explored two characters, The Caretakers, and their relationship with each other and the cart. Using the allegory of the seasons of life, traditional images and moments of the seasons were expressed as memories and the way memories are captured by someone displaying memory loss. Using multi-sensory elements such as scented sprays, interactive lights and touch sensitive panels, the performance shone light on the sensitive subject matter in an accessible and yet beautifully illustrated way.
The Caretakers included original music composed by Musician, Performer and Composer, Carl Cole. With the performance being non-verbal, it relied on an intricately considered flow of narrative driven by the music. The composition of this music also featured a live display of melody creation by using items from the cart, varied instruments and a looper, which recorded the sounds in layers to create improvised backing music.
The creative technology was developed and created by tech extraordinaire Steve Symons of Muio, who crafted elegant and beautiful solutions for complex requirements. His knowledge of coding, electronics and the creation of magical experiences enhanced the performance into a beautifully engaging interaction for all audiences.
After months of building, creating and rehearsing, The Caretakers was ready to take to Frequency Festival in Lincoln for it’s first outing at Lincoln Cathedral.
These are the preliminary drawings and ideas for the project and helped to inspire what we could include into the performance and for audiences to interact with.
We chose the elements of the cart to include items that could become interactive parts which would inform the narrative, such as lamps that could be controlled with remotes and manual levers to trigger sounds. I used second hand pieces of furniture, wood and items to create these pieces in modular units which were then added to an old market cart that was adapted with a second pair of wheels.
Emma Denby 
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