Support smallscale shows

My partner and I are regular theatregoers, and we recently experienced one of our most rewarding theatre visits.

This was to a production of “Home” at the Key theatre studio.

It is designed for a small audience with profound and multiple learning disabilities, but my partner has dementia, and is permanently in a wheelchair. She has lost the ability to speak, and finds complicated dialogue hard to take in.

However, this production was ideal for her because it is visual and hands on.

There are songs, but they are easy to follow.

It was rewarding to see the delight on the faces of the other carers as they revelled in the experience of their loved ones enjoying themselves.

One of the three cast members told me that they try to make it a show for everybody, and I said that I didn’t feel left out, because we were also invited to touch and feel the various props.

The performance lasted an hour, but the time flew by, and I was disappointed when it ended, thinking that there was still another half an hour to go! Apparently the company, Frozen Light, visit Peterborough every year, but I must have dismissed their productions in the past as not relevant, but people with dementia can get a lot of pleasure from their productions.

It was nice to see the Key Theatre putting on such a small scale production, and obviously Frozen Light cannot exist without subsidy, so let’s hope that they continue to receive funding in these days of needless austerity.

Richard Collins Southfields Avenue

Peterborough