A Birmingham-based theatre company delivered a bespoke performance to the day hospice this week as part of its Home Theatre project. Performers Emily Buckler and Jane English from the Birmingham Repertory Theatre visited the hospice on Grange Road once a week throughout October so that they could get to know patients and gather content for the show.
Emily said: 'We’ve really enjoyed every moment we’ve spent at John Taylor Hospice. It’s given us a unique opportunity to create something a bit special.'
The performance at the hospice was a new experience for Emily, who has been in the REP’s artist development programme, REP Foundry, since April. “It’s the first time I’ve done a project like this in a hospice,” said the 25-year-old. “The highlight for me was actually everything in the lead-up to today: spending time with some of the patients and hearing about their lives.
“We picked up on as many of their stories, experiences, likes and dislikes as we could so that we could put together a play especially for them. It was lots of fun!” The duo also included their own experiences of John Taylor’s Heart of the Hospice day hospice in the half-hour play, which was directed by Priya Dosanjh.
“Every day is different at the hospice,” added Jane, aged 31, who lives in Erdington. “So we didn’t want the play to have a set structure, either. We used the format of a Bingo game as a way of dividing up the different sketches. And of course, audience participation was a key element.”
The REP offered the opportunity for a bespoke home performance to local residents as part of its community involvement project, Home Theatre. Tessa Walker, associate director at Birmingham Repertory Theatre says: “Home Theatre is one of our initiatives to bring theatre to the residents of Erdington.
“It’s our second year of the initiative and we’re really pleased to have been able to create a tailor-made performance for John Taylor Hospice based on patients stories and experiences.” Heart of the Hospice manager Paddy Breen said: “We were delighted to welcome the REP back to our day hospice this week, following on from the success of last year’s storytelling project.
“Our patients think of John Taylor Hospice as their home from home, so the REP’s Home Theatre project was a perfect fit for us. “Emily and Jane’s performance was full of energy and of course we loved that it was ‘Taylor-made’ – they wrote, rehearsed and performed every detail with the patients in mind. It was something we don’t see every day and we hope to have them back again soon!”
