Following phenomenal sell-out runs in London, New York, Edinburgh, Hong Kong, Seoul, Sao Paulo and Lima, Theatre Re returns to the UK with their explosive, joyous and highly acclaimed show The Nature of Forgetting. As one of the UK’s leading visual theatre companies, Theatre Re blur the lines of traditional performance by combining original live music and striking visual theatre to create world class, deeply moving non-verbal productions. The Nature of Forgetting delves sensitively into the fragility of life by exploring what is left when memory and recollection begin to fade.
Tom has just turned 55. As he dresses for his birthday party, tangled threads of disappearing moments spark him into life and old memories come flooding back. This ambitious project tells a tale of friendship, love and guilt with actors, mimes and musicians. Established in 2011, Theatre Re create, share and promote life-changing theatre that is both inventive and accessible through cross-arts and cross-sector collaboration. After an extraordinary world tour performing across 15 countries since 2017, the UK leg of this tour will commence with the company’s exciting return to London International Mime Festival for 2023 with The Nature of Forgetting.
Across the tour, the company will be offering a series of post-show talks at each performance venue in association with local organisations. Led by specialist psychologists and medical researchers for Dementia and Alzheimers, as well as Admiral Nurses from Dementia UK, audiences will hear first-hand the development process for the show and experience an insight into the cognitive map of memory.
Leading the talks will be Dr Sarah Ryan (Alzheimers Society Junior Fellow, The University of Manchester), Dr Dorothy Tse (Senior Psychology Lecturer, Edge Hill University), Dr Meher Lad (MRC Clinical Research Training Fellow, Newcastle University) and Professor Kate Jeffery (Neuroscience Professor, University College of London), with whom Theatre Re collaborated closely throughout the devising process. These post-show talks offer audiences a fresh perspective on memory and shine a light on stigmas concerning dementia. Each talk and performance preceding it will be BSL interpreted by Laura Goulden.
Director Guillaume Pigé comments, The Nature of Forgetting is not about dementia. It is about the fragility of life and that eternal ‘something’ we all share that is left when memory is gone. If there is one takeaway from the past seven years of making, touring, refining and breathing new life into The Nature of Forgetting – it’s to remind myself to be present, in the moment, and realise life as I live it.
Incredible…The Nature of Forgetting is a powerful reminder of the beauty of mime’ (★★★★★ GQ Magazine UK)
Breath-taking and bold… A must see (★★★★★ Broadway World).
★★★★★ Theatre Weekly
★★★★★ The List
Notes to Editors
Title The Nature of Forgetting
Director Guillaume Pigé
Composer Alex Judd
Lighting Designer Katherine Graham
Re-Lighter, Stage Manager Josephine Tremelling
Sound Technician Benjamin Adams
Rehearsal Director Eygló Belafonte
Costume & Prop Designer Malik Ibheis
Dramaturg A.C. Smith
Scientific Collaborator Professor Kate Jeffery
External Curator Andrew Visnevski
Isabella / Sophie Louise Wilcox
Emma / Mrs Denis Eygló Belafonte
Mike Calum Littley
Tom Guillaume Pigé
Teacher/ Multi-instrumentalist Alex Judd or Henry Webster
Percussionist / Schoolboy Nathan Gregory
Devising cast Matthew Austin
Malik Ibheis
Chris Jones
Alex Judd
Fred McLaren
Keiran Pearson
Guillaume Pigé
Eygló Belafonte
Andres Velasquez
Louise Wilcox
Luna Tosin,
Calum Littley
Age restrictions 8+
Website https://www.theatrere.co.uk/
Running Time 75 minutes
Social media @theatrere
#TheNatureofForgetting
Tour Dates
13th – 15th January Théâtre des Capucins, Théâtres de Ville de Luxembourg, Luxembourg
https://theatres.lu/fr/thenatureofforgetting
18th – 22nd January Shoreditch Town Hall, London
As part of London International Mime Festival 2023.
Post-show talk with Professor Kate Jeffery and Admiral Nurse Jules Knight of Dementia UK on 19th January.
https://mimelondon.com/theatre-re-the-nature-of-forgetting-2023/
30th – 31st January The Lowry, Salford
Post-show talk with Dr Sarah Ryan and Admiral Nurse Pam Kehoe of Dementia UK on 30th January.
https://thelowry.com/whats-on/the-nature-of-forgetting/
2nd – 3rd February Edge Hill University Theatre, Ormskirk
Post-show talk with Dr Dorothy Tse and Admiral Nurse Helen Green of Dementia UK on 2nd February.
https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/departments/support/artscentre/whats-on/
17th – 18th February Northern Stage, Newcastle
Post-show talk with Dr Meher Lad and Admiral Nurse Sharron Tolman of Dementia UK on 17th February.
https://northernstage.co.uk/whats-on/the-nature-of-forgetting/#
The Nature of Forgetting was funded by Arts Council England and was commissioned by the London International Mime Festival, The Point Eastleigh and South Hill Park.
All enquiries, high res images and further information:
Phoebe Carlisle, Chloé Nelkin Consulting
E: phoebe@chloenelkinconsulting.com, T: 020 3627 2960
