Mind the Gap!

This intergenerational theatre project was developed over three years in collaboration with New York Theatre Workshop and Southwark Playhouse Elders Theatre Company. The first MTG! was performed in 2017 at London South Bank University and Southwark Playhouse. The second MTG! was performed in September 2019 at Southwark Playhouse. The project investigates the nature of the perceived 'generation gap' and potential communication barriers that exist between an ensemble company of performers of different age groups. The project explores how far possible solutions to the problem of these barriers, can be generated using the processes and methodologies of the professional theatre rehearsal room and work to create not only intergenerational dialogue but theatrical impact. The project was facilitated by the New York Theatre Workshop working with acting students from LSBU and elders from the Southwark Playhouse Elders Theatre Company.

The project has entered a second phase interrogating how the processes encountered might be adapted to facilitate further dialogue with people with mental impairment and early-onset dementia. This work is facilitated by Arts 4 Dementia in association with Kings College.