Have Your Circumstances Changed?

Have Your Circumstances Changed? is a triptych of duets between an ageing man and a growing boy taking place in theatre sets positioned in the windows of a former furniture shop in Archway. These choreographed performances (to be seen singly or in combination), developed through collaboration led by director Lu Kemp, will confront passers-by with the intimate routine of an older man’s daily life.

Have Your Circumstances Changed? is funny, dark and problematic. Set in a kitchen, a bathroom and a sitting room, each performance begins as a slice of realism dropped wholesale into the space. There are six performers, three men in their 70s/80s (played by professional actors) and three boys under 12 (from local theatre groups). The choreography of their everyday actions questions the quality and responsibility of care within contemporary society.

The accepted relationship between adult and child is inverted as the question is raised of who the child is. The relationship isn’t within real time and space. Is the boy the man’s past or his future, the older man as a child or someone who will grow up and make political decisions about elder care?

Elements recur from piece to piece. A radio plays a repeated motif, signalling changes in time zones. The naturalism of the space breaks down as the child disrupts the everyday and changes the visual and aural world the man inhabits. It’s about the smashing of the barriers between two worlds.

Have Your Circumstances Changed? raises broader questions about human vulnerability as more of us live longer and need to adapt to the challenges of daily life – at a time when we are at our least adaptable. And who has the responsibility of care in this extending period of life?

NOTE: Performances are approximately 15 minutes long.