My name is Guillaume Pigé and I am the director of a theatre company based at The Point in Eastleigh called Theatre Re. We are one of the UK’s leading visual theatre companies. Our work combines original live music with striking visual theatre to create world class, deeply moving, non-verbal productions about universal human challenges and the fragility of life.
I am reaching out because we will be touring our piece ’The Nature of Forgetting’ https://www.theatrere.co.uk/the-nature-of-forgetting.html again in the UK in the coming months. We will be remounting the production in the Creation Space at The Point in Eastleigh, before going on tour to London, Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle.
The show deals with what is left when memory is gone through the portrayal of Tom, a 55-year old father dealing with early onset dementia. The piece was originally developed in collaboration with the Alzheimer’s Society and UCL Institute of Behavioural Neuroscience. It has had tremendous success in the UK and internationally and had a big emotional impact on the people who saw it. We will also be collaborating with local Age UK branches on this tour.
About The Nature of Forgetting
“We all know that something is eternal. And it ain’t houses and it ain’t names, and it ain’t earth, and it ain’t even the stars… Everybody knows in their bones that something is eternal, and that something has to do with human beings… There is something, way down deep that’s eternal about every human being… And that’s what’s left when memory is gone.” Thornton Wilder – Our Town
Our main character, Tom, is living with early onset dementia. We meet him on his 55th birthday being helped by his daughter, Sophie, as he struggles to get dressed for the party. What follows is a life-affirming journey into Tom’s weakening mind, where broken does not have to mean defeated.
To develop The Nature of Forgetting we collaborated with UCL Neuroscience Professor Kate Jeffery. Research on memory and amnesia formed the basis and foundation of our explorations. We also interviewed older members of the community as well as people living with dementia to create links between the science and the real human experience.
Ultimately, our piece is not about dementia. It is about the fragility of life and that eternal “something” we all share that is left when memory is gone.
Here are all the touring details:
• EASTLEIGH – The Point, Creation Space – Sept 23rd at 1.30pm & Jan 6th at 4pm – Free Open Rehearsal
• LONDON – Shoreditch Town Hall – from Jan 18th to 22nd
• MANCHESTER – The Lowry – from Jan 30th to 31st
• LIVERPOOL – Edge Hill University Theatre (Rose Theatre) – from Feb 2nd to 3rd
• NEWCASTLE – Northern Stage – from Feb 16th to 18th
