Feb 2021
Wiltshire drama students collaborate with Avonbourne Care Centre residents to record Winter Tales
Photo caption (L-R): Students Frankie Holmes, Anissa Hamidi, Benedict Hancock, Beth Larkey, Evie Allan rehearsing Winter Tales based on memories shared by OSJCT Avonbourne Care Centre residents
Students on Wiltshire College and University Centre’s Salisbury Performing and Production Arts course, run by Wiltshire Creative have produced a film based on a new play ‘Winter Tales’, created for a collaboration with residents at Avonbourne Care Centre, run by The Orders of St John Care Trust (OSJCT).
COVID-19 and the third national lockdown prevented the play’s planned debut in January at the Salisbury Playhouse. Instead, students filmed their individual performances, including verbatim accounts by residents, for a compilation film, which has been shown in the care home.
The play was written using residents’ memories of winter as inspiration for dance, light projections and spoken word performances. The project started when Wiltshire Creative, who run the performance course, approached Avonbourne Care Centre. Students and residents first met in September using Zoom to discuss ideas for the play, before interviews took place with residents, including some with dementia, to capture their memories of winter.
The students’ filmed performances include personal accounts of war time, playing in the snow, travelling through Canada and seeing the northern lights. Residents who took part vary in age from 72 to 98 years old.
OSJCT Activities Coordinator Jane Mealing said: “We were delighted when Wiltshire Creative approached us about the Winter Tales’ project. During a year when visiting and entertainment has been limited, it was wonderful for the students and residents to find a way to work together.
“The residents enjoyed sharing their memories and were very excited to see their stories re-told by the students. Everyone agreed that it was great fun.”
Residents who took part in the project are: Colleen, Gerard, Judy, Michael, Jennis, Ivy, Gwen, Joyce, John, Vera, Marcus.
Students featured are: Evie Allan, Jack Brett, Georgia Church, Sebastian Doherty, Natasha Dovey, Katherine Dyson, Anissa Hamidi, Benedict Hancock, Emma Marie Holmes, Frankie Holmes, Beth Larkey, Emilia Roberts, Alexander Rothery, Xander Snook, Sophie Weeks, Abigail Whitman, Rebecca Wilcock.
Student Beth Larkey said of the project: “This verbatim style piece has been fun and interesting. I really enjoyed interviewing residents at Avonbourne Care Centre and hearing their stories. I think it is so important to carry on recording stories from the past and not let them disappear. It’s important that we do this and share them with other people.”
The Winter Tales project was a partnership between Wiltshire College and University Centre’s Salisbury Performing and Production Arts course, run by Wiltshire Creative, and OSJCT Avonbourne care home.
Course director, Tom Sherman said: “This has been a wonderful project for the students to be a part of. They truly valued the connection we have made with the Care Centre and the residents. We hope to return for more collaborations in the future.”
Gjenya Cambra, Community Relationship Officer at Wiltshire Creative, said: “Wiltshire Creative are really excited to be working with the staff and residents at Avonbourne Care Centre and our students on this project - it has been a great way to continue working with the local community despite the restrictions the pandemic brings.”