One Hundred Trillion

In the lead up to Dementia Action Week 2019, The Dot Collective will celebrate the one hundred trillion synapses that form memories in the human brain, transforming the Old Vic Workrooms into an immersive world of memory and experience.

Inspired by workshops with dementia groups during Dementia Action Week in 2018, One Hundred Trillion brings to life their characters and stories through four promenade plays. Workshops will be held for dementia groups throughout the week and participants will have the opportunity to grow the unique living set by contributing to the Memory Room and planting in the Allotment.

The Dot Collective aims to raise dementia awareness and reshape the way we look at the disease, all while creating positive emotional memories for workshop participants. As a charity producing professional theatre, The Dot Collective are in the unique position of being able to provide theatre for those with dementia, allowing creativity and positive experiences to thrive.

The audience will be led through the four plays of One Hundred Trillion, set over four different rooms. The Memory Room will host Frames by Chantelle Dusette, and the Music Room will be home to I Could Have Danced All Night by Margaret Perry. Audiences will then be led to the Allotment, which will host Lucy Grace’s Topsoil, and finally the London Bus Garage will see Lily Bevan’s London Bus performed.

Laura Harling, Artistic Director of The Dot Collective, comments: We want our audience to experience the joyful and imaginative spirit our team did when running the workshops with our dementia groups. We want them to enter the vivid world of colours, smells, sights and sounds that our participants experience when describing their memories to us, which is why we have made the plays immersive. For too long dementia has been left in the dark and many who currently live and care for dementia are afraid to talk about it. I hope that work like this project will raise positive awareness. One Hundred Trillion is about living with dementia, not suffering from it.

Sheena Ogilvie, a dementia support worker at Alzheimer’s Society, comments: The Dot Collective bring out a side of their (service users) character that I don’t usually get to see during normal sessions. I’m touched, moved and inspired by what they do and the passion they have for making a difference.

The Dot Collective’s One Hundred Trillion is generously supported by public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England.