Understanding Aged Care: Facing Dementia through Theatre

The family meets for the first Christmas lunch without the mother, Rose, whose absence is marked by an empty chair.

But how ‘absent’ is she?

And as the father begins to display some eccentricities, it is realised they may soon be losing him to dementia.

This is the synopsis for The Empty Chair a play that faces dementia, with understanding and good humour.

The Empty Chair is one of many plays performed by HealthPlay in recent years.

HealthPlay uses theatre to promote understanding of health care issues in the community. Since 1997 the company have produced eight plays and delivered 500 performances.

Health issues explored throughout the plays include depression, prostate cancer, diabetes and preparing for the loss of loved ones.

HealthPlay believes that in addition to public forums, power points and statistics plays can take an audience into the lives of people who have been through that experience and face the situation with positivity and humour.

A forum follows these plays so audience members can ask questions to local relevant experts and share their own stories and experiences.

HealthPlay believes that exploring health issues through performance and then combining it with a forum is a great way to deliver a health message whilst bringing the community closer to their local health providers.

The play will be at Ivanhoe Girls Grammar Performing Arts Centre on Tuesday 20th November at 7:30 pm.

The play runs for 70 minutes with no interval.