The Strategy.

Working with B&FC students we explored their understanding of what being old might be like, using individual and group mapping techniques, movement activities, sound capture and devising exercises to find narrative jumping off points and to establish the style and tone of piece they would create together. The students were also taught about the challenges and opportunities related to care for the elderly, using Pfizer's research on the world’s aging population and looking at the current care system and the public infrastructure in the UK; they were trained in interview techniques and how to use professional audio recording equipment.

Following research and training, the arts partners and arts specialists in sound, costume and film took the B&FC students into Glenroyd Care Home and Clifton Hospital to collect and record oral (his)stories of older hospital patients and care home residents talking candidly about how it feels to get old and their experiences of being in hospital/living in a care home. A chair-based movement session was also delivered as part of the delivery at Clifton Hospital.

The Artistic Outcome.

The result was the creation of Oldtopia, a 20 minute physical theatre piece that was delivered by B&FC students in collaboration with the arts partners to peers and staff at B&FC, to patients, carers, families and staff at Clifton Hospital and Glenroyd Care Home and to organisations attending the Lancashire Arts Exchange in Morecambe.

Oldtopia highlighted the need for, and significance of, bringing young people into conversations about their future health provision and the importance of creating further opportunities for young and old to work together.

Incorporating film, green screen performance, photography, sound, movement and spoken word, Oldtopia imagined what life and care for the students as older people might look like for them in the future and gave the students an opportunity to consider what advice their older selves would give to their current selves to ensure they have a rich and resourceful old age.

The Result.

Delivery of Oldtopia enabled Arts Lancashire to engage with new partners across the county and to make inroads with the county’s health sector to develop new advocates for future arts and health initiatives in Lancashire. It strengthened the collaboration between Ludus Dance and Fable Arts and opened up new conversations between them about utilising more digital within their respective and collaborative work as a development of their practice and as a crucial audience development tool.

The project also allowed Arts Lancashire to consider how they might focus the professional development support aspect of their remit around building capacity and upskilling Lancashire artists so they are better equipped, not just to respond to opportunities, but to collaborate with other sectors to help innovate, practice, product and service development. This work would not simply focus on arts and health, but also around specialist disciplines and knowledge to support the development of their practice and to help generate new opportunities for audience development.

Beyond this, Oldtopia was also presented to influencers and decision makers in the healthcare sector in order to catalyse conversations and shift thought on policy and spending on care for the elderly.