A Musical Comedy About Dementia Coming To The Tabard Theatre

The Doodle Bugs will also perform in three local care homes

Chiswick Events
Participate

Tabard Theatre, Bath Road, Chiswick, W4 1LW

Friday 11 October – Thursday 24 October

Tuesday – Saturday, 7.30pm

Running Time 70 minutes

Box Office Tickets are available price £20 or £17

Readers get a discount if you mention ChiswickW4 when you book tickets

Box Office number: 020 8995 603

The Tabard Theatre

Sign up for our weekly Chiswick newsletter

Comment on this story on the

Coinciding with their London run, Paradise Lodge’s dysfunctional ukulele musical duo ‘The
Doodlebugs’ will come to life this October as they perform in local nursing homes - Chiswick
Nursing Home (14 October), Hammersmith Dementia Day Centre (16 October) and Acton
Care Home (21 October). The show is the forthcoming production at The Tabard Theatre. from 11-24 October .

During their run at the Edinburgh Fringe the duo raised over £1,000 for Alzheimer Scotland; this charitable partnership was particularly fitting as the production is a musical comedy based on writer Steve Cooper’s experience of caring for his mother-in-law as she lived with dementia.

Residents at homes such as these wouldn’t normally get access to the vast array of shows on the London theatre landscape and it’s important to Cooper that he’s able to connect with local communities, particularly given the subject matter of Paradise Lodge. Singing in care homes is his way of giving something back.

This show aims to create an immediate connection with anyone who has had experience with dementia. Told in a series of touching flashbacks and some comic songs from the wartime era, Paradise Lodge transports Vi, Ronnie and the audience back to a time when they had all their lives in front of them – to when they thought they would live forever.

Trying to make sense of dementia and its impact on those affected, Paradise Lodge explores the
nature of identity, reality and loss, with a bit of Beyoncé’s Single Ladies thrown in for good
measure.

Steve comments, "The reactions from audiences young and old has been really touching. People
who were apprehensive that the show might be a difficult watch have said they took heart from
learning that they weren’t alone. Health professionals have said it could be used to train carers.
People with Alzheimer’s, dementia and their families have watched it together and each seems
to find something that speaks to them.

"When people come back the next night and bring others with them it shows that they feel ownership of the play. For me, that’s the highest praise.

"Whether people have personal experience of the condition or not, they all end up singing!
Paradise Lodge is a compassionate, unflinching look at old age, while in the context of a musical
comedy."

 

Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More

This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism.

Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets.

We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more.

However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do.

We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area.

A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site.

One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute.

If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor.

For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site.

 

September 27, 2019

Bookmark and Share