A show filled with original stories from the lives of older people returns to Leeds Playhouse this week.
The Performance Ensemble developed Sinfonia as part of 1001 Stories, a festival that celebrated age and ageing at the Playhouse for LEEDS 2023, the Year of Culture.
Directed by Alan Lyddiard, the 2024 production, at Leeds Playhouse's Courtyard Theatre on April 26-27, features new stories and performers in a more intimate show that will be performed in Leeds, Doncaster and Barrow.
Local performers will share tales of activism and politics, love and family, told by the generation that pioneered punk, fronted marches and invented the internet.
Alan Lyddiard, who is the company's artistic director, said: “We’ve been creating high quality performances with people aged over 60 for years now, giving a voice to generations that have been forgotten. These people have full lives and experiences worth sharing and we are revealing and celebrating them in new, beautiful and emotive ways.”
The ensemble has just become an Arts council England National Portfolio Organisation, which neans it is guaranteed national funding.
"We want to say life doesn’t stop as you get older," said Alan, who himself is 73. "In becoming an NPO we have been able to offer 12 new roles in the company to people usually closer to considering retirement; each of them bringing a lifetime of expertise and enthusiasm.”
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