Lost Lear tackles dementia in stirring play

Remixing the works of William Shakespeare may seem like a tall order, but Dan Colley is using the style and themes of the bard to tell a heartbreaking story in his play Lost Lear.

Lost Lear concerns an elderly woman suffering from dementia and is under care in a home, availing of a technique known as the “Specal Method”.

The “Specal Method” involves using scenery and images to allow someone with dementia to relive old memories, and the people around the patient are encouraged to “act” as if they are characters in a story.

Colley’s own grandmother lived in a care home with old shop fronts, with the intent of helping residents recall their youth and make them feel comfortable and familiar in their everyday surroundings and not scared of their memory loss of the modern world.

With Lost Lear, the estranged son of the elderly woman comes to “finish unsolved business” per Colley, but is then forced to play the part of a character.

Allegories with Shakespeare’s own King Lear abound, but Colley also cited the work of Mike Leigh as a major influence on his work.

The esteemed British director worked in the world of theatre before his career as one of the greatest living filmmakers, and heavily favours an approach where the actors spend months workshopping and improvising their characters.

The same resources were not afforded to Colley, but he says he used it as a jumping-off point.

“We certainly didn’t have Mike Leigh or movie money to play around with on this, so it was a case of working with the resources we had within the confines of theatrical experience.”

Colley said he would ask his actors to employ a degree of improvisation when they were fleshing out their characters.

He said the “economics of theatre” were at play, but said that in the world of theatre, audiences tend to suspend their disbelief.

Puppetry and live video are deployed to help sell the more surreal elements of the piece, but Colley noted that the work of his actors also go a long way in helping the audience buy into the story.

Conceived during the pandemic and extensively workshopped, Colley said the pandemic was beneficial for the play insofar as he could more easily talk to caregivers over Zoom for research, but restrictions made it difficult for his actors to meet in person and workshop their characters.

Regardless of the pandemic, Colley said he would have made the play anyway.

He said it was an idea that he had been “batting around” for a while, and would have made it in some shape or form.

Colley said he collaborated with the Dementia Carer Campaign Network on the technical elements of the script, which he says adds authenticity to the piece.

The play has received strong critical notices, and Colley says there are plans afoot to tour the show around Europe.

For Colley, however, he says the reaction to the play has vindicated his decision to pursue such an ambitious play.“After shows, I have people coming up to me in the theatre bar and telling me how much they enjoyed it. It is things like that that makes it worthwhile.”

“It is rare that you make something that provokes someone,” he said.

Lost Lear plays at Draíocht Blanchardstown for one night only on November 25th,  and The Civic in Tallaght on November 28th and 29th.