Dementia's Journey
EKTA Project through its work with Asian Elders for 27 years has come across many issues concerning them and their families.
EKTA Project has successfully developed plays in raising awareness about various issues that have remained unaddressed and
hidden due to stigma, shame and lack of awareness in the community.
Dementia is one such issue that has been largely ignored in Asian communities.
Alzheimer’s Society’s ‘Dementia UK Update’ shows that there will be 850,000 people living with dementia in UK in 2015.
Of these, 25,000 people are from black and minority ethnic groups in UK. It's estimated that there are another
416,000 people in England living with Dementia who have not been diagnosed. This figure is definitely a cause for concern
and hence the need was felt to raise awareness in the community.
EKTA Project has developed a play entitled 'Dementia's Journey' ('Dementia ka Safar' in Hindi) to bring about awareness in
an attempt to dissolve the social barriers that prevent the community from addressing the onset of dementia in their families.
This play is based on EKTA’s direct experience of the confusion and difficulties faced by the elders and their carer’s.
“The cast of ten dedicated volunteers bettered the audience’s understanding of the disease during the 45-minute performance which
didn’t shy away from the upsetting reality of the illness’s gradual but serious progression and its physical and emotional effects.
Playwright James Kenworth has centred the piece on an Asian family with the goal of raising awareness and dissolving the stigma and
shame which can surround it.
And it seemed to have worked based on the Q&A that followed,
considering the number and range of questions posed to the panel of experts.”
Lauren Ranson, Barking and Dagenham Post
“If the aim was a play both challenging and enjoyable, then James and EKTA have succeeded.
Nina, played by Santosh Behl, becomes increasingly confused. She knows something is wrong, but has no words for it.
Her family – fearful of anything suggestive of mental illness with its associated stigma – are in denial.
Is it any wonder she feels she is going mad?
The diverse audience at Forest Gate is held throughout, and in the Q&A session that follows, Alli Anthony
from the Society fields a range of questions and comments.
‘What I love about this play,’ says Alli, manager of the Society’s Connecting Communities
project, ‘is the way it touches people. There have been tears and laughter at every performance, with audience
members telling us this is their family’s story.’
It may be a modest production, but by holding a mirror up to society, Dementia’s journey is truth-telling drama at its best.
Santosh’s performance as Nina is heartfelt and purposeful.
In the play, things come to a head at a family conference. Nina’s husband is finally persuaded to seek help. A social worker
provides support and advice. The family gain strength and compassion through understanding, and Nina, by now unsure of many things,
feels again her family’s loving embrace. The play offers much needed hope by showing how it is possible to face dementia together.”
Andrew Bence, Living with Dementia, The magazine of Alzheimer's Society
“I was delighted to attend the launch of the "Dementia's Journey" Play at the Theatre Royal Stratford.
I thought it was a very effective, well produced play with excellent performances by the actors.
I particularly welcomed the way in which the issues of shame and denial were confronted.”
Mike Gapes, Labour & Co-operative Parliamentary Candidate for Ilford South