The Murmuration of Starlings was a labour of love for Witney playwright Joe Graham, but he’s excited about premiering it in his home town at The Corn Exchange.
Primarily a love story, it tackles awareness and attitudes around dementia by showing what goes on in people’s heads as they go through the disease.
“IT’S A COMPLICATED SUBJECT MATTER AND DIFFERENT FOR EVERYONE WHO EXPERIENCES IT, SO WE WANTED TO REFLECT THAT IN AN ACCESSIBLE WAY”
“We didn’t want two old people sat across from each other, that would be dull, so instead we are tackling the subject matter from a different angle,” he says.
And Joe is delighted to be bringing it to the newly refurbed Corn Exchange in Witney. “During Covid the stage and seating has been reinstated so it’s now a great little theatre again,” he says.
Written a few years ago, the idea for Murmuration of Starlings came to Joe when he discovered that murmurations are caused by the birds massing together to avoid predators, and thought he could apply the same principle to dementia.
“It’s a complicated subject matter and different for everyone who experiences it, so we wanted to reflect that in an accessible way that makes sense that’s not upsetting or too close to home,” he says.
The actors Steve Hay, Jenny Jones, Max Garland and Jennifer Barton are in good hands though because Joe has had numerous professional productions at The Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham and Bristol Old Vic, has written for Watford Palace Theatre, toured his musical comedy Rhinestone Mondays starring Shaun Williamson around the UK , Oranges On The Brain opened at Oxford’s Pegasus Theatre and I Get That A Lot at the The Theatre Chipping Norton, amongst many others.
So how is he feeling about the opening night? “It’s a good play. I’m really pleased with it. I’ve done a lot of comedies in the past which are easier to sell so I hope people just come along because we really want to get it right,” he says before returning to rehearsals to prepare for opening night.
The Murmuration of Starlings a co-production with Balancing Act & Buttercross Theatre in aid of the Alzheimer’s Society runs at Witney Corn Exchange on Wednesday May 24 – Saturday 27 at 7.30pm. https://lnkd.in/eit9ba7e
