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Sand explores love and memory through the lens of dementia. What inspired you to tell this story?

We were both deeply affected by the work of Vamos theatre and their various projects based around the subject. Sean worked on Sharing joy which was a vamos project that went into care homes to deliver a connective experience with the residence. During the pandemic commissioned by the London Mime festival Sean and Rachel (AD from Vamos ) developed a show called love through double glazing which performed on the outside of the care home windows and interacted with residence safely in their armchairs. There was an innate honesty and duty of care needed when working in this way and even though painful at times it was always playful and full of joy.The idea of having pockets of memories and trying to hold on seemed to resonate physically with us and felt like it was an important story to tell.

The show blends circus and theatre. How do these art forms work together to bring Dylan and Heather’s story to life?

There is a really profound answer that we could give but realistically it is simply what we know. We have spent the past 20 years working in both these forms and we think it’s a beautiful way to tell stories. In the case of Sand we have the added bonus of working with incredible performers who are able to deliver high circus skills, while breaking your heart.

Dementia is often portrayed with sadness, but Sand also highlights joy and connection. How did you find this balance?

There is a book by Jolene Brackley called creating moments of joy along the Alzheimer’s journey. The title resonated with us and made us dig for these moments. We looked for the characters’ moments in their life where we could celebrate their wins or awkward failures to build a fuller picture of their life.It is a careful path to tread but it seems to balance very well

The piece was devised in collaboration with the performers. How did that process shape the final production?

The performers involved in the r & d and rehearsal period have really unique skills and are compelling to watch. The textures they bring are fully embedded in the production. They are also really wonderful, open and hardworking people so creating with them was incredibly easy.

What do you hope audiences take away from Sand, especially those who have personal experience with dementia?

We hope the audience leaves the theatre with that beautiful feeling of what it is to be human, in all its messy love and joy. That collective experience of being affected by a production is what we both love when seeing a show and we hope the audience takes this with them too. We aim to raise awareness of dementia and, guided by our research, present a window into this world. To this end, we hope that people will feel seen and understood regarding the repercussions of living with dementia.

You can catch Sand on Thursday 22 May and Friday 23 May at 7:30pm. Book your tickets here.