Award winning play A Map to You reshaping responses to dementia

By Ryan Hogg

Empathy can be one of the most valuable tools available for treating people with dementia.

A South London art collective succeeded in sharpening those tools during a sold out run of its award-winning play in Longfield Hall, Vassal last month.

A Map to You, created by charity The Dot Collective, aimed to reshape responses to dementia through an immersive theatre performance of shared experiences which put the spotlight on the person and not the dementia.

The play was inspired by the unique connections between the playwright and participants and followed a series of workshops with a dementia support group, as well as their families and carers.

Laura Harling, founder of the Dot Collective, said: “It was great to see audiences experience something they completely didn’t expect.

“A hotel where they would hear the memories of people who had been before and create new memories based on their experience.

“One audience member said to me ‘I was worried that it was going to be sad, but as soon as I walked in I realised it was going to be so much fun.’

“‘The experience was a celebration of life, the stories that we saw but also reflecting it onto ourselves, and leaving us feeling a sense of pride for ourselves.’”

The performance, which received the King’s Civic Challenge Arts and Health Award in April 2021, led audience members through four different immersive rooms hosting promenade plays.

They included plays directed by Harling, Louise Coulthard, Nicole Latchana and A.C. Smith.

Audiences said they found the event to be heartwarming, with the acting performed with empathy and joy.

One audience member said: “What a fantastic evening, bringing people’s lives and their memories to life, the lives of these people beautifully interpreted and written into small plays for the stage.”