Taking part in Ages and Stages, by Judy Tindall

I suppose it was Jill who first told us about the workshops, towards the end of similar workshops we’d been doing with her already. When I say “us”, I mean the three of us, all retired teachers who’d become friends working as Audio Describers for the New Vic. I’m not sure I would have been brave enough to join in without my friends. I wasn’t sure about being filmed either, but you do get used to the camera being there and ignore it after a while. Maybe I became more confident.

It’s been something I’ve looked forward to on Monday evenings. I’ve met lots of interesting people I didn’t know before. Many of the others had been coming to the Vic for longer than I have. There were people who worked for the Vic as actors or behind the scenes as part of the creative team, besides volunteers and audience members. Team work and being creative is an enduring feature of the Vic and we experienced it too by improvising ways to show the results of our discussions dramatically. For me it was a completely different way of thinking. I could see why this sort of activity works so well in developing empathy – a sense of how other people feel. 

It was great when some of the Youth Theatre joined us. How inspiring to see their energy, enthusiasm, and confidence. Talking, let alone working, with teenagers is something I rarely experience now. They were always coming up with ideas and were so good at dramatising them.

Judy Tindall - Ages and Stages Theatre Company 

Taking part in Ages and Stages, by Olympia Pattison-Corney

On my first day of Ages and Stages I had absolutely no idea of what to expect. We had been told about it in Youth Theatre and, thinking that it sounded interesting, I applied.  In the first session, as an ice breaker, we told two truths and one lie. So out came the incredible truths and the unfeasible lies. Guessing which the lies were was hilarious, and with that the void of ages had been breached. 

When I first applied to be in Ages and Stages I wrote on my application that I thought I could learn from people with more life experience. I have realised that in this I was naive. The older members of the group haven’t just had more life experience they’ve had a completely different experience of life. What fascinates me is that I’m hearing about things that I have never seen with my own eyes. Getting to know the older members I feel like I am able to begin to bridge the gap between the times and start to understand. I realised quickly that age isn’t representative of a person’s ability or personality but that it simply records the years that they have lived through. We were told the story of a 94 year old woman shopping in Hanley who when walking past a charity shop saw a piece of china that she had painted and saw her own signature on the back. Working with the group has taught me not to judge a person by their age or by what they’re wearing. As someone surmised in a group session “An old man in a hoody looks like a youth until you really look.”

I have loved working with the group and think that they are all amazing people. 

Olympia Pattison-Corney - Ages and Stages Theatre Company 

Second homes in magical places...by John Shapcott

It is not only the wealthy who can afford second homes in magical places. I first discovered the Vic as a Keele student in the late 1960s and, apart from a few years working in and around London, it has been my second home ever since. London theatre is world-class but it doesn’t have that unique combination of immediacy, intimacy, community and involvement found at the old Vic Theatre, and that is now also the magical hallmark of the New Vic.

The Ages & Stages project seems a natural progression for the theatre’s outreach into the local community. Who better to tell of its past glories than those of us who have been audience members for, in some cases, over forty years? Invited to share our memories as part of a documentary, we have been meeting and getting to know each other since September 2011. The most daunting but ultimately most rewarding aspect of the workshops have been the improvisation sessions, challenging our ability to express our knowledge spontaneously without resorting to clichéd speech or gesture. Not easy. And not made any easier by the presence of a camera filming every moment – the surprise is that a relaxed and informal atmosphere makes possible a level of concentration that overcomes any concerns about appearing foolish and having blunders recorded.

Before Christmas we older, (mature?) theatre fanatics were joined by members of the Youth Theatre. Their arrival brought a new focus to the sessions, together with the promise of future magic. Their enthusiasm and openness was infectious, awakening memories of when I was young and unaware of the impending demands of adulthood. So perhaps it was just as well that some topics were avoided – fear of a painful death, sex, poverty – in our discussions and improvisations. Maybe an ‘Extreme Ages & Stages’ awaits exploration – the Theatre of Cruelty and the Absurd combined. For the moment, however, young and old approached the tasks of improvised performance with intelligence, sensitivity and wit such that we created a Theatre of Pleasure for an all too brief magical time in which Age was Play. 

John Shapcott - Ages and Stages Theatre Company 

Vive the Vic/New Vic: Home and Away, by Frances Evans

In the late 1960s, I was fully occupied in learning to live in Staffordshire, to fend for myself as a single person and to teach English to 11–18 year olds. Coriolanus was my first A Level Shakespeare, not the most appealing to the girls in my group. To the rescue came Alan David, actor from the Vic, part of Peter Cheeseman’s plan to build the relationship between theatre and school. The academic advantages were bountiful and my status was enhanced by my introduction of a ‘dishy’ male.

The late 1970s and 80s were dominated by money raising for the new theatre: meetings, covenants, raffles, Open Days, Family Nature Days, collecting at the Potteries Marathons, a Grand Auction, a New Vic Recipe Book: you name it, we did it. For me, the most important event was in October 1989 - I married T F Evans. We had a celebratory lunch in the New Vic restaurant with champagne, courtesy of a startled marketing department. Tom joined me as a dedicated stuffer, vol and audience member. 

Last year I went to visit a niece Jane, who lives in South West France. She took me to tea with an English couple who were trying to learn French later in life. Once upon a time (in fact in 1974) John, whose profession had been sound effects for films, had been at the Vic during the preparations for Fight For Shelton Bar. He was sent alone to the steelworks where he found the noise and the heat terrifying. Recently I tried to establish the date of the documentary. The garage, source of much theatre memorabilia, produced a 9 page booklet, Fight For Shelton Bar, but no date. I shook it impatiently and a Sentinel cutting fell out – Friday March 15^th 1974. What the booklet did reveal was a page of Acknowledgements. Under ‘Design and Technical Staff’ appears the name John Pakenham (Design Assistant).

Frances Evans, Ages and Stages Theatre Company 

Vic Memories and Taking Part in Ages and Stages, by Peter Dutton

Vic Memories

My memories begin with the early days at the Municipal Hall in Newcastle; Stephen Joseph’s cogently argued case for a permanent home in the area for the company and the selection of Hartshill. Appointments at Hanley High School and Stoke Sixth Form College meant that I was involved with the development of the Vic’s central educational and community philosophies. I was also a trustee for nearly twenty years. 

From the outset Vic actors contributed to school drama lessons, visited productions and supported the work of teachers. A and AS Theatre Studies students followed Vic productions from early rehearsals to performance and the experience of watching professionals working and the close relationship between director, cast and the technicians was invaluable. Those who applied for admission to theatre schools had briefing sessions with Vic actors; two students later appeared at the Vic and others also enjoyed successful stage careers.

The Vic’s educational and community work was executed in practical and largely unpublished terms but it was effective, consistent and generated significant goodwill.

The Ages and Stages project

The composition of our group recalled Dryden’s description of Chaucer’s Canterbury pilgrims –“Here is God’s plenty”. Although there was a conspicuous absence of rogues, clerics and gushing theatricals, there was an interesting mixture of personalities, age bands and experience. The experience of Chris Martin and Steven Granville added to the impact of the sessions and the latter’s account of arriving in Stoke for an audition which was actually being held in London was a comic highlight, while the illustrated talks by Pat Blenkarn and James Earls- Davis provided a revealing insight into the vital contribution of the backstage teams to each production.

Participants clearly had a strong feeling of loyalty to the Vic for widely differing reasons, but a common factor seemed to be that it represents something substantial and meaningful in individual lives regardless of age and external circumstances. It is more than a place where one goes to watch shows – the setting and welcoming atmosphere have their own appeal.

Attitudes to ageing were positive, notably cliché-free, and the improvisations which were devised reflected this variety of outlook. The success of the venture owed much the decisive input of members of the Vic Youth Theatre, who were confident and optimistic, as well as being attentive listeners and making constructive contributions to group activities.

My treasured moment came when we were discussing a council leader’s declaration that provision for old age should start at fifty. I wondered how Peter Cheeseman would have reacted to the suggestion that the green grasses of retirement beckoned at that point. The adjectives “incredulous” and “volcanic” came to mind. 

Peter Dutton - Ages and Stages Theatre Company

Our Age, Our Stage rehearsal photos

The cast

Director, Jill Rezzano

Rehearsals underway for 'Our Age, Our Stage'

Rehearsals are well underway for our documentary production, 'Our Age, Our Stage'. It is being directed by Jill Rezzano (Head of Education at the New Vic Theatre and Co-Investigator on the 'Ages and Stages' project) and acted by an intergenerational group of ten performers. The documentary retells some of the many stories that local people have told us about their experiences at the Vic, their love of theatre, and their own ageing and creativity. As well as live speech, the performance includes audio recordings from our interviews and archival film footage. It will be taken out to four community venues, starting on 2nd July, and performed in the main auditorium at the New Vic Theatre on Wednesday 11th July.

The documentary is verbatim - all the words come from interviews and workshops conducted for the 'Ages and Stages' project. It has been very exciting to watch it all come together over the last few days...

Best of luck to our talented performers!

David Bowen

Chris Evans 

Steven Granville

Brenda Hennessey

Jess Hughes

Michael Lewis 

Olympia Pattison-Corney

Colin Ramsell

Arthur Roberts

Judy Tindall 


Michelle Rickett

The New Vic - by Colin Ramsell

T HIS 
H OUSE
E NTERTAINS
A ROUSES
T ITILLATES
R EVITALISES
E NTIRELY

By Colin Ramsell, member of the 'Ages and Stages' performance group 

Being involved in the 'Ages and Stages' project - by Becky Salt

Getting involved with the 'Ages and Stages' project has given me an insight into the history of the New Vic Theatre and how it has positively influenced valued members of our community. Not only have I learnt about how the different departments within the theatre have developed over time but I have also met some inspirational people of the older generation that I have learnt great amounts from.

Through participating within the workshops, I have had the opportunity to contribute my ideas and beliefs about the topic 'Perceptions of Age',  whilst also revealing innovative thoughts of how the final documentary performance could be produced. 

By creatively re-enacting people's memories it has enabled me to understand how greatly the New Vic has impacted the public and how in time they have developed their style of productions. Having the chance to work with people from both generations for some time now, I have been able to build strong relationships and make valuable friendships that I hope will last for some time to come. There are various different personalities and interests within the group however, we all share one common passion, of the theatre and the all-important connection with the New Vic. 

On a weekly basis, being involved with the 'Ages and Stages' project is something I thoroughly enjoy and look forward to. I have encountered new knowledge and have learnt new skills and qualities about myself. 

Becky Salt - member of the 'Ages and Stages' performance group 

'Theatre is good for you' - by Michael Lewis

It's official – going to the theatre is good for you. Michael Boyd in his reinstatement of his brief for the design of New Shakespeare Theatre writing of these distinctive qualities - “No other art form addresses our humanity with the full human presence in the way that theatre can: the actual presence of the body and spirit of the person, shared in the same space through real time with an audience breathing the same air. …” (pg 25 The Guthrie Thrust Stage: A Living Legacy). He goes on to say that the closer you can get a large audience to the performing area, sharing the private emotional detail as well as the inspiring epic, the better. A consensual exploration of our common humanity! That is is what's good for us.

At the New Vic we have the tremendous success of Alice in Wonderland. An interpretation of a story that has a wide influence delightfully for all ages. A creative expression of a concentrated team effort – take-away magic made by people. The interpretation reflected the age it was written in and the issues then of poverty and ignorance. It seems like a good tonic in these uncertain times to be reminded that creative ingenuity by people is the way forward rather than depending on systems.

See you down at the Vic – if not I shall want to know why.

By Michael Lewis - member of the 'Ages and Stages' performance group 

Taking part in the Ages and Stages workshops

I am one of the older members of the Ages and Stages group. The New Vic gave me a new lease of life after retirement. It could do the same for you!

Judy - member of the 'Ages and Stages' performance group

Making the Ages and Stages documentary

We have now started the devising process for the 'Ages and Stages' documentary, which will be performed in the main Vic auditorium on Wednesday 11th July. An intergenerational performance group (including members of the New Vic Youth Theatre and our existing group of older participants) are attending weekly workshops at the theatre, where we are starting to draw together ideas for the documentary, using extracts from the interviews, group discussions and archival materials gathered by researchers at Keele. The documentary will explore people's experiences at the New Vic over the course of their lives, and the relationship between ageing, theatre and creativity.

Over the coming weeks, we'll be inviting members of the performance group to write their own blog posts about their involvement in 'Ages and Stages' and their experiences and memories of the New Vic...

Michelle Rickett