A Theatrical Treat For Amberleigh House

Residents, relatives and staff at Amberleigh House enjoyed a unique theatre performance this week, when they welcomed Living with Laughter Theatre Company into their care home.

On Tuesday 11th April, Living with Laughter performed ‘Enter Your World’, an enlightening and heart-warming production using drama, poetry and music to share people’s real-life stories, memories and experiences of dementia.

The audience were taken on a walking tour through the home, where pop-up performances took place in a variety of locations including a poetry reading in the beach area, storytelling in the home’s pub and a musical performance in their remeniscence room.

Many of the 38 older people supported at Amberliegh House are affected by dementia. In the weeks leading up to the performance, the company interviewed residents’ relatives, encouraging them to paint a true picture of the challenges they have faced, as well as the light-hearted and funny moments, so they could share these through their storytelling. 

After the performance, Teresa Everett who lives at Amberleigh, said: “I loved seeing the young people perform for us. It was so funny and made me laugh.”

Caroline Broughall, Service Manager for Amberleigh House, said: “At Amberleigh House, we always strive to bring new and interesting opportunities to the people we support. We’ve really enjoyed working with Living with Laughter over the past few weeks – they’ve brought our stories to life so vibrantly.

Caroline continues: “Dementia shouldn’t be the end of a person’s journey and watching ‘Enter Your World’ today has brought so much positivity and laughter into our home. It was wonderful to see so many of our residents so engaged.”

Jade Crosbee, Stage Manager for Living with Laughter Theatre Company, said: “I’d like to thank everyone at Amberleigh House who shared their stories and experiences. Although dementia can be a very challenging condition, there were really touching and funny tales to be told. Our company aims to create a comfortable environment where everyone can get together and enjoy themselves through laughter – we certainly achieved this today and had so much fun performing their lovely stories.”

Living with Laughter Theatre is a newly formed company, formed by six Liverpool John Moore University students who create interactive theatre to support people affected by dementia. Find out more at https://livingwithlaughtertheatre.wordpress.com/