Theatre Trips and “The Nature of Forgetting”

The Nature of Forgetting left me speechless, in the sense that no amount of words will ever be able to describe how incredible this play was. Most of the plays we watch are thoroughly enjoyed, so e ore than others however, I feel like we take something away from each of them. The Nature of Forgetting was performed by Theatre Re, who use movement, sound and mime to create the atmosphere. This piece used little to no dialogue, which is unlike any play I’ve seen thus far. I felt physically and mentally taken away. Again, I feel like nothing can justify just how breath-taking it was. The play focused on Tom, his dementia, his past and his present. In the short time I sat in the theatre, I was transcended through the core memories of his life. I didn’t just watch them: I felt them. My eyes were glued to this piece of theatre, I could watch it over and over and over again and still be in utter awe at its beauty. It was heartbreaking: trying to separate character from actor was so tough during this performance as every ounce of you wishes to jump on that stage and comfort them whilst they’re pouring their heart out to you. It is physically demanding.

It makes me a little annoyed at myself for turning my nose up at theatre in the past. Admittedly I was ignorant towards it favoured fil and T . ut gave theatre a chance, and it takes one good play, one whisper from the stage that truly speaks to you, for all of that to change.

Each time the term’s theatre trip letters come out, it’s a rush to see what they are. Though I have to say, the plays you’ve never heard of, the plays that slip to the back of your mind, the ones which you hold the least expectations for, turn out to be the best - for me, anyway. An example of this would be a little theatre behind a church in the middle of Manchester, a capacity of probably 30 max, a little studio space, with a man telling his story. Both cries of laugher and sobs of tears, all collectively felt with complete strangers. Or a PowerPoint presentation as a performance about grief - ouch, that one hurt. All of this following popular, grand performances such as Les Mis, The Lion King and Dreamgirls: completely beautiful, extravagant performances that have your jaw on the oor throughout, fro the sheer shock of how sky high buildings are moving right in front of you, or how there’s a 20ft giraffe tip toeing across the stage. n si ple ter s, whatever your niche is, there’s something out there for you, but you have to look for it. Here we have the privilege of having a handful handed to us termly: take advantage of it. ost i portantly, don’t dis iss theatre don’t fall into the trap of thinking it’s boring or too above you. It’s probably one of your only opportunities to live a hundred lifetimes in one.