PUTNEY — After seven years of touring, Sandglass Theater bids farewell to its award-winning show, D-Generation: An Exaltation of Larks, on May 24 and 25, at 7:30 p.m., at the New England Youth Theatre in Brattleboro.
“From playful story circles to dark private terror, from lyrical inner visions to demanding confrontation, from the reflections of caregivers to the fragmented memories of residents of care facilities, D-Generation evokes a complex world of people living with dementia,” according to a news release.
D-Generation: An Exaltation of Larks is a full-length theater piece based on stories written collaboratively by groups of people with dementia at Brattleboro's Pine Heights and Holton Home care facilities. The work is performed by three puppeteers (the caregivers) and five puppets (the residents of a care facility).
Puppets by Coni Richardson and lighting design by Sabrina Hamilton enhance the performance, which is set to an original score by Paul Dedell with animated video segments by Michel Moyse.
“What does it mean to put away a performance that has been so much a part of one's life for 11 years? Performing D-Generation took us to places in the country where we had never been,” said Sandglass co-founder Eric Bass, who has been part of the performance ensemble.
“We played in 14 towns, from Helena to Santa Fe, from Sheboygan to Knoxville, and of course, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and several towns in Vermont,” Bass continued. “In addressing issues of access, we found doors opening to us, too, all around the U.S., and on three tours to Germany as well. When I look at it this way, I'm quite moved by how this work, coming at the time it did, struck a chord that resonated and continues to resonate throughout our communities.”
D-Generation explores the rich creative potential and ability to communicate that exists in people with late-stage dementia. Their words, their images, and their creative imaginations yield work that is poetic, humorous, and quite mysterious.
From these stories, Sandglass Theater forms scenes of the inner life of the characters and creates a piece that reflects the stigma and the acceptance, the despair and the joy, that are equally present and possible in both the person with dementia and in their caregivers and family members.