New play in Newcastle examines the realities of unpaid care in the North East
Worlds Apart, which is coming to Northern Stage this week, takes a truthful look at what it means to be a carer, or be cared for, in the North East
A new play, coming to Northern Stage this week, is examining the realities of being an unpaid carer - created through workshops with people living it
Worlds Apart has been created by the Woven Nest Theatre Company, telling the story of 3 generations of women - thrown together by the world of unpaid care-work - and its impacts on families.
The play has been written with the help of the real life experiences of people in that position, with the company bringing together young carers, unpaid carers and older people living in residential care to take part in a range of group storytelling, writing, drama, and music workshops, to collaborate on the development of "Worlds Apart".
Poppy Crawshaw is the co-founder of Woven Nest, and is directing Worlds Apart;
"That's where the richness comes from, we've had a writer in the room to bring that structural knowledge,
"But actually - writing a really authentic story comes from a collaborative process, and people owning the story they want to share."
She tells us they hope audiences will relate to elements of the play, though they might not expect to;
"Not everyone will identify as being a carer, even though they may already be a carer...
"Care relationships aren't as clear cut as 'someone who cares for someone' and 'someone who is cared for' - often it's a lot more fluid than that."
Worlds Apart is an Arts Council England National Lottery Grant funded project.
The team worked with carers, young carers, older people in care home settings across Newcastle, Gateshead and Sunderland and in April 2022 a ‘work in progress’ was performed at Sunderland’s Carnival House.
The team then went back into a second phase of development which starts with the run of shows at Northern Stage in April 2023, before touring to theatre and community venues in Summer 2024.
Woven Nest Theatre is a workshop-led company based in the North East, who specialise in working with older people living in care homes with dementia.
They tell us they hope that through their theatre productions, workshops and ethos they challenge thinking and generate conversation around neurodiversity (particularly dementia) and support people to realise their creative potential.
The company hope to raise awareness about issues around ageing and support older people to lead the conversation.
There is also a program of wrap around activity - delivered by Woven Nest's other Co-founder Liv Hunt, which includes continued support for young carers, and writers who care for people, and wider workshops on the themes explored in the play.
Worlds Apart is on at Northern Stage in Newcastle from Thursday 20th April, to Saturday 22nd April, with a matinee on Friday 21st April.
You can find out more about Woven Nest Theatre, and Worlds Apart, online, and more from Northern Stage.