National Theatre Wales / Before I Leave / Programme
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NATIONAL THEATRE WALES WITH WALES MILLENNIUM CENTRE GYDA CHANOLFAN MILENIWM CYMRU BOX OFFICE SWYDDFA DOCYNNAU NATIONALTHEATREWALES.ORG BEFORE T: 029 2037 1689 I LEAVE NATIONAL THEATRE WALES 30 CASTLE ARCADE / ARCÊD Y CASTELL, CARDIFF / CAERDYDD CF10 1BW T: 029 2035 3070 E: [email protected] W: NATIONALTHEATREWALES.ORG LIKE US ON FACEBOOK HOFFWCH NI AR FACEBOOK NATIONAL THEATRE WALES FOLLOW US ON TWITTER DILYNWCH NI AR TWITTER @NTWTWEETS WATCH US ON YOUTUBE GWYLIWCH NI AR YOUTUBE YOUTUBE.COM/NATIONALTHEATREWALES WRITTEN BY YSGRIFENNWYD GAN DESIGN / DYLUNIO: BWTIC.CO.UK PATRICK JONES DIRECTED BY CYFARWYDDWYD GAN MATTHEW DUNSTER NATIONAL THEATRE WALES WITH WALES MILLENNIUM CENTRE GYDA CHANOLFAN MILENIWM CYMRU BOX OFFICE SWYDDFA DOCYNNAU NATIONALTHEATREWALES.ORG BEFORE T: 029 2037 1689 I LEAVE NATIONAL THEATRE WALES 30 CASTLE ARCADE / ARCÊD Y CASTELL, CARDIFF / CAERDYDD CF10 1BW T: 029 2035 3070 E: [email protected] W: NATIONALTHEATREWALES.ORG LIKE US ON FACEBOOK HOFFWCH NI AR FACEBOOK NATIONAL THEATRE WALES FOLLOW US ON TWITTER DILYNWCH NI AR TWITTER @NTWTWEETS WATCH US ON YOUTUBE GWYLIWCH NI AR YOUTUBE YOUTUBE.COM/NATIONALTHEATREWALES WRITTEN BY YSGRIFENNWYD GAN DESIGN / DYLUNIO: BWTIC.CO.UK PATRICK JONES DIRECTED BY CYFARWYDDWYD GAN MATTHEW DUNSTER NATIONAL THEATRE WALES WITH WALES MILLENNIUM CENTRE GYDA CHANOLFAN MILENIWM CYMRU BOX OFFICE SWYDDFA DOCYNNAU NATIONALTHEATREWALES.ORG BEFORE T: 029 2037 1689 I LEAVE NATIONAL THEATRE WALES 30 CASTLE ARCADE / ARCÊD Y CASTELL, CARDIFF / CAERDYDD CF10 1BW T: 029 2035 3070 E: [email protected] W: NATIONALTHEATREWALES.ORG LIKE US ON FACEBOOK HOFFWCH NI AR FACEBOOK NATIONAL THEATRE WALES FOLLOW US ON TWITTER DILYNWCH NI AR TWITTER @NTWTWEETS WATCH US ON YOUTUBE GWYLIWCH NI AR YOUTUBE YOUTUBE.COM/NATIONALTHEATREWALES WRITTEN BY YSGRIFENNWYD GAN DESIGN / DYLUNIO: BWTIC.CO.UK PATRICK JONES DIRECTED BY CYFARWYDDWYD GAN MATTHEW DUNSTER “ THIS PLAY IS A TESTAMENT TO THE HEALING POWER OF SONG” PATRICK JONES ALL OF US CAN REMEMBER A SONG THAT MEANT SO MUCH TO US AT A CERTAIN BEFORE I LEAVE I’LL GIVE YOU SOME HAPPINESS POINT IN LIFE. FIRST LOVE, LOST LOVE, THE BEST SUMMER OR THE LONELIEST WINTER. WE MARK OUT OUR LIVES WITH MUSIC. IN THE FOG AND CONFUSION OF THE LAUGHTER OR PAIN, THE GOOD THAT REMAINS DEMENTIA, HEARING A PARTICULAR SONG CAN IGNITE A FORGOTTEN FLAME THAT, FOR A MOMENT, LIGHTS THE WAY TOWARDS A PEACEFUL SAFE PLACE WHERE HOLD ME TIGHTER STILL, KEEP ME SAFE UNTIL SMILES ARE REBORN. HOLD ME CLOSE, BEFORE I… This play would not exist without the magnificent people I have met on this journey. I would like to thank Cwm Taf choir in Merthyr for inspiring this play, and for their time and patience as I sat in and listened to their song, their stories. Further, the Alzheimer’s Society staff, volunteers and people of Tyˆ Hapus, Barry, Ruth and Angela and all at Wrexham Alzheimer’s Society choir, and Sarah and Rhiannon at the Sing for Life group in Brecon. I never failed to shed a tear, see my own life reflected, burst into laughter or share a common humanity with the members. Brain cells need each other to function properly, to pass on the signals to each other. In dementia, proteins block these bridges, fracture the flow of life. When these connections are broken the messages cannot cross, so the cells die and parts of the brain stop working effectively. You lose the ability to remember, you lose your appetite, you forget how to bake a cake – the cells fade and die when they can’t interact with other cells. A bit like a choir, a bit like us, a bit like society. In these times of public sector cuts, of unchallenged inequality, of food banks and an economic policy parading as moral imperative, we need to acknowledge each other, listen to each other’s song and if a voice is damaged we need to sing louder. But somehow music, melody and song surge over these snapped synapses, connect and heal if only fleetingly… but for that moment life is beautiful, life is connected. PART OF FESTIVAL OF VOICE, A NEW INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL IN CARDIFF, 3 - 12 JUNE 16 RHAN O Wˆ YL Y LLAIS, GWˆ YL NEWYDD RYNGWLADOL YNG NGHAERDYDD, 3 – 12 MEHEFIN 16 All over Britain these groups exist. They meet, they sing, they live. I wanted to bear witness to their inspiring work. The choirs are evidence people live, and live well with dementia, and Before I Leave is my small part in breaking down the negative assumptions around the disease. As Johnny Cash says in ‘Hurt’, WITH SPECIAL THANKS FOR THE USE OF A SONG FROM THE FOLLOWING SOURCE: ‘But I remember everything’. GYDA DIOLCH ARBENNIG AM GAEL DEFNYDDIO CÂN O’R FFYNHONNELL GENLYNOL: SO, GO FORTH AND SING… SING. “YOU’LL NEVER WALK ALONE” MUSIC BY RICHARD RODGERS, LYRICS BY OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II USED BY PERMISSION OF R&H THEATRICALS EUROPE, WWW.RNH.COM. BEFORE I LEAVE I’LL LEAVE YOU SOME MEMORIES THE GOOD AND THE BAD, THE HAPPY AND SAD HOLD ME TIGHTER STILL, KEEP ME SAFE UNTIL HOLD ME CLOSE, BEFORE I LEAVE BEFORE I LEAVE I’LL GIVE YOU SOME HAPPINESS THE LAUGHTER OR PAIN, THE GOOD THAT REMAINS HOLD ME TIGHTER STILL, KEEP ME SAFE UNTIL HOLD ME CLOSE, BEFORE I… I’LL SING THIS SONG UNTIL I DIE SING IT SLOWLY WITH SOME PRIDE SING IT BACK TO ME IF YOU WANT SING IT BACK TO ME WITH SOME LOVE I’LL SING THIS SONG UNTIL I DIE SING IT SLOWLY WITH SOME PRIDE SING IT BACK TO ME IF YOU WANT SING IT BACK TO ME WITH SOME… BEFORE I LEAVE I’LL MAKE YOU FEEL YOUNG AGAIN I’LL TAKE YOUR HAND, MAKE YOU UNDERSTAND HOLD ME TIGHTER STILL, KEEP ME SAFE UNTIL HOLD ME CLOSE, BEFORE I LEAVE BEFORE I LEAVE I’LL WALK IN THE WILDERNESS I’LL TAKE YOU THERE, LEAD YOU THROUGH DESPAIR HOLD ME TIGHTER STILL, KEEP ME SAFE UNTIL HOLD ME CLOSE, BEFORE I… I’LL SING THIS SONG UNTIL I DIE SING IT SLOWLY WITH SOME PRIDE IN MY POCKET THESE DREAMS WILL STAY IN MY POCKET THESE DREAMS WILL REMAIN I’LL SING THIS SONG UNTIL I DIE SING IT SLOWLY WITH SOME PRIDE IN MY POCKET THESE DREAMS WILL STAY IN MY POCKET THESE DREAMS WILL… WRITTEN BY YSGRIFENNWYD GAN IMAGES / LLUNIAU NICKY WIRE & JAMES DEAN BRADFIELD DAN WILTON I’LL SING THIS SONG THANKS “ HAD A QUICK LITTLE IDEA, DIOLCH THOUGHT IT COULD BE QUITE EPIC!!!” RHIANNON DAVIES, SARAH HARMAN, ELLIN JONES, ANGELA STONER, This was the opening line to an email I received from Patrick AND RUTH MOORE WILLIAMS late one night, and this is honestly where the project started. In the email, Patrick gave us a framework for a project, BEFORE I LEAVE’S WRITER PATRICK JONES HAS JOINED MAE AWDUR BEFORE I LEAVE, PATRICK JONES which would eventually turn into ‘I’ll Sing this Song’. FORCES WITH NTW TEAM, FILMMAKER KYM EPTON, WEDI YMUNO Â TEAM NATIONAL THEATRE WALES, PHOTOGRAPHER AND DESIGNER PAUL THOMAS AND Y GWNEUTHURWR FFILMIAU KYM EPTON, A week or so before that, Patrick, my colleague Mawgaine MUSICIAN BEN TINNISWOOD TO TEACH THREE CHOIRS Y FFOTOGRAFFYDD A’R DYLUNYDD PAUL THOMAS A’R and I had spent a day together talking about possibilities, OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH DEMENTIA TO SING BEFORE I CERDDOR BEN TINNISWOOD I DDYSGU TRI CHÔR O and he had taken us to the Six Bells mining memorial LEAVE, THE BRAND NEW SONG NICKY WIRE AND JAMES BOBL SY’N BYW GYDA DEMENTIA I GANU BEFORE I for inspiration. We all realised that Before I Leave gave DEAN BRADFIELD OF THE MANIC STREET PREACHERS LEAVE, Y GÂN NEWYDD SBON Y MAE NICKY WIRE A us a unique opportunity to create something that could HAVE WRITTEN FOR THE PRODUCTION. JAMES DEAN BRADFIELD O’R MANIC STREET PREACHERS be much bigger than the show itself. Patrick’s idea was WEDI EI HYSGRIFENNU AR GYFER Y CYNHYRCHIAD. perfect, Mawgaine wrote an application that summed it up brilliantly, and The Baring Foundation backed us. The project, called I’ll Sing this Song, will result in a short Bydd y prosiect, o’r enw I’ll Sing This Song, yn arwain DEVINDA DE SILVA film about the experiences of the choirs from Wrexham, at ffilm fer am brofiadau’r corau o Wrecsam, y Barri ac HEAD OF COLLABORATION / PENNAETH CYDWEITHREDU Barry and Brecon, and a very special digital resource for Aberhonddu, ac adnodd digidol arbennig iawn i gorau choirs across the country to download and use. ledled y wlad i’w lawrlwytho a’i ddefnyddio. The interactive online life of the project will open Bydd bywyd rhyngweithiol, ar-lein y prosiect yn ei “ THOSE DAYS LIVE FOREVER, “ THE BEFORE I LEAVE SONG it up to many more people, and draw on the profiles agor i lawer mwy o bobl, ac yn defnyddio proffiliau FOUND TREASURE THAT WE’LL NEVER SURRENDER” WILL REVERBERATE ON AND ON…” of Patrick & NTW to raise awareness and understanding Patrick a National Theatre Wales i godi ymwybyddiaeth of dementia. a dealltwriaeth o ddementia. Those words, written by our friends at Tyˆ Hapus for the We set out to be an echo of the Before I Leave chorus to our song, sum it up perfectly. performance; with the aim of helping ‘the words live’. Patrick will continue to work with all three choirs after Bydd Patrick yn parhau i weithio gyda’r tri chôr ar ôl Spreading the song and the sentiment of the play with the production has closed, and help them to explore i’r cynhyrchiad gau, a’u helpu i archwilio cerddoriaeth From the very first session people were so welcoming, the support of those at the heart of its story.