Improbable Theatre

It all started when Phelim was passing a coffee shop in Twickenham.

'I recognised a brilliant actor I’d seen in plays at the Royal Exchange in Manchester when I was taken there as a kid. I took a chance, introduced myself and told him what a fan I was. We chatted for a bit and I asked what he was doing now.'

'Not theatre any more. Too old lad, too old.'

At about the same time the press had stories of high profile actors saying that their theatre days were done. We felt sad that all these great actors who had spent their lives in the theatre now felt that the stage was no longer their home.

It seemed that the problem was theatre built around the ‘play’ – not so many parts for older actors, learning the words takes longer, the physical demands of rehearsal and performance, the worry they’ll be asked to do something they can’t quite do any more – there were lots of reasons why older actors and the theatre drifted apart.

We know that ‘improv’ is often comedy. Not this. It might occasionally be funny it might not. In fact it’s not even a show really, it’s an experiment. What scenes will these older people create? What stories will they unfold? What might they tell us about what awaits us all at the other end of life?