Ordinary lives: Forgetting

This project is currently in the research and development stage.

Although this project emerged through the experience of the Covid pandemic and the catastrophic effect it had on ordinary lives. It contains themes and ideas that have preoccupied me for over thirty years.

Forgetting is part of a trilogy of works that began with Mirror Mirror which was previewed in 2021. This new work Forgetting continues the journey.

We will enlist active participants to explore these themes in workshop and rehearsal situations, followed by a final performance which will be shown in London in 2024

How do we come to terms with these social disturbances and disruptions to our lives and futures? Some benefited and flowered, some changed careers, many over-50’s retired early and many young people were robbed of an important and formative time in their lives. 

This collective work is an attempt to use the creative process to unlock and harness some of those feelings that have been locked away. It’s about putting back together some of the fragments of the puzzle. To remake some of the brokenness and be part of the healing process and readjustment of people’s lives.

Two key areas of the research will be to work with two groups, from different edges of the age spectrum, from young to old.

I will be investigating ideas around forgetting, remembering and memory. This involves working closely with groups that deal with dementia and the catastrophic effect it has on the sufferer and the families. I will also be looking at what the pandemic restrictions meant for those in education, loss of social interaction and how those formative years have been disrupted.

Terry Smith