EDINBURGH 2019: PARADISE LODGE Q&A

BWW catches up with Doodlebugs Productions to chat about bringing Paradise Lodge to the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Tell us a bit about Paradise Lodge.

Two actors play multiple roles that will have you laughing and crying (sometimes both together) and singing!

It's just after lunch in Paradise Lodge care-home and 'The Doodlebugs', (a dysfunctional 1940's duo), are putting on a sing-along show. We meet some residents and hear their stories of life, love and loss. As the duo disintegrate, we witness in flashback the onset of dementia affecting the lives of those living with it and their carers.

It doesn't sound like a split-your-sides comedy, does it? It is an emotive issue and we pull no punches, but trust me, it's bloody hilarious.

What was the inspiration for the show?

The play is based on my experience helping to care for my mother-in-law, Dorothy, when she was living with dementia. I'd sit with her, take her to the doctors, hospital, shopping, garden centre, dentist (getting someone with dementia measured for new teeth is a singular experience), hairdresser, reiki, lunch, looking round care-homes. We were together so much I started making notes, trying to make some sense of it. After we lost her, I went back to my notes and the play took shape. The scenes are all taken from life, sometimes word-for-word.

Why is a care home a good setting for a musical comedy?

People are scared to visit friends and relatives in care-homes. It can be distressing to see your loved one and others in that setting, but we need to get over ourselves. I've done plenty of gigs in care-homes and I've had a ball and so have the residents and carers. Reality might have shifted for some but they know someone's there, they know it's live and they've got some great stories to tell if you take the time to listen. There is inevitable tragedy at the end of the winding trail, but why shouldn't we channel the 'Blitz spirit' and have a laugh on the way?

Why is a musical the right format for this story?

We learn language through music from birth, and when memory fails us in our twilight years the music remains. People living with dementia might forget their past, their children, what day it is; but start a song off and they know every word. They are back in the room. Music engages body and soul like no other medium. Without music we have no story.

What do you hope audiences take away from it?

One in three of us will develop some form of dementia. I want carers, Joe and Jane public and those living with it to realise that they are not alone. Others have been there or are going through it right now. Lots of others. We should all reach out. We've hooked up with Alzheimer Scotland to spread the word locally and are doing gigs in some Edinburgh and Leith care-homes - to give us a touch of reality among the shadows, illusions and absurdities of the Fringe. We want the world to sing about it!

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/paradise-lodge

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