Old people, children and animals

"A show in which people who don't fit the frame of showbiz stardom - the old people and children of the title - talk not about their social problems, but about the joy and sadness, poetry and philosophy of their lives ... a unique and delightful form of theatre that sits right on the cutting-edge of debate about what we mean by performance, but is still as unpretentious and accessible as a good community show."
Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman

Old people, children and animals brought together 15 performers, some in their sixties and seventies, some teenagers, two four-year olds and some animals.

Why we made it

With Old people, children and animals we aimed to continue and develop a number of recurrent areas of enquiry for Quarantine. We wanted to explore responsibility, not only to those close to us, but also our role in a civil society, as well as in a theatrical context; how audience and performers might share responsibility for the performance itself. We wanted to investigate something important right now in society by having the people most affected by it telling their own stories. And of course, to challenge the theatrical axiom that we should "never work with children or animals" and thus the idea that there are groups of people who should be excluded from theatre-making.

How we made it

We recruited performers for Old people, children and animals through a series of contrasting visits to unsigned band nights and tea dances. This gave us four women in their sixties who dance and three teenage girls with their own band. Later we added two four year old girls and an older jazz musician, with the animals joining us much later.

The process of making Old people, children and animals was much more difficult than we had imagined and looking back the show was a mixed success. We struggled to find material and ended up resorting to formula so that, although there were some interesting sections, thought-provoking juxtapositions and beautiful theatrical moments, the piece as a whole was never entirely satisfying. It gave us considerable food for thought about the risks we always take, but have somehow grown used to, in Quarantine's work. For the performers there were many positives in spite of the difficulties of the process for the creative team. Audiences and critics responded warmly to the warmth and generosity of the performances. "What will you do with my story?" one of the performers asks a man in the front row. "Treasure it," comes the reply. (Guardian review)

Credits and performance details

Created with and performed by: Chloe Baines, Xyla Genovese-King, Bill Glasgow, Brenda Hickey, Maia McCarthy-Dupuy, Norma Raynes, Emma Royle, Sarah Royle, Maureen Stirpe, Kay Titterington.
Girl on film: Kendall Beckett

Director Richard Gregory; design Simon Banham; writer Sonia Hughes; choreographer Jane Mason; lighting designer Mike Brookes; sound designer Greg Akehurst; filmmakers Ruth Cross and Michael Clements; production Nick Millar and Greg Akehurst; assistant director Gareth Nicholls; stage manager Caroline Stanton.

Old people, children and animals was a co-production with Contact and Tramway, supported by Arts Council England, the Lankelly Chase Foundation and the Granada Foundation. It was performed at Contact in Manchester and Tramway in Glasgow in June 2008.