How Leeds Playhouse and Our Dementia Choir Are Changing the Story of Dementia

We spoke with Dr Nicky Taylor, Research Fellow at Leeds Beckett University’s Centre for Dementia Research. Her award‑winning work champions co‑production and the integration of arts and science, leading Leeds Playhouse’s pioneering theatre programme that challenges stigma and empowers people living with dementia. Nicky shared insights on Through It All Together and how creativity and song can bring moments of joy and connection to those living with the condition.

Stories about dementia are everywhere – in film, TV, radio, plays, charity fundraising and news media. Just 20 years ago, people were reluctant to say the ‘d’ word out loud, but this is changing. Public awareness campaigns create more open conversations, and the stigma of living with this condition is gradually reducing. But the stories we tell can have a powerful impact. Put yourself in the position of a person newly diagnosed with a form of dementia, with all the stress and upset this causes. You turn on the TV and a character with dementia is portrayed losing all their skills, creating a burden for family members, while a fundraising campaign talks about the multiple losses dementia brings to someone’s personality and abilities. This might generate drama or highlight grief, but where is the space for hope? People can live with dementia for many years. How does someone approach this new stage of life if all we offer is fear?

At Leeds Playhouse we counter these dominant narratives of despair, recognising that hundreds of thousands of people with dementia continue to live their lives. Naturally, there are additional challenges and necessary support, but people are primarily getting on with life. Our award-winning theatre and dementia programme encourages people with dementia and their supporters to find hope and possibility in the creative arts. We focus on understanding individuals’ unique strengths and interests, and work creatively with what people can do, not what is lost. We frequently see moments of joy as people find new creative talents or express themselves in different ways, sometimes freed from inhibition. We believe people living with dementia have a right to be creative and to see their lives reflected sensitively on stage.

People affected by dementia have supported us to create our newest project Through It All Together by Chris O’Connor by sharing their lived experience. In June& July 2025 this play is bringing people together primarily through a love of football, alongside the experiences of characters Howard and Sue, both huge Leeds United fans, who are adjusting to life with Howard’s newly diagnosed dementia. Pairing the ups and downs of two stories – Leeds United’s return to the Premier League under manager Marcelo Bielsa and an ordinary family coping with a life-changing diagnosis – our aim is to build a community around people experiencing dementia, showing that there is still hope and connection in everyday life.

See the Welcome to Leeds interviews on Through it all Together

The reason Leeds Playhouse can create narratives of dementia that do not solely focus on decline is the 15+ years we have spent developing specialist expertise, professional partnerships and trust with individuals living with dementia. This combination of ingredients informs authentic, balanced, and nuanced narratives of dementia, offering a ‘slice of life’ of complex and believable characters with dementia, which sensitively reflect the experiences of ordinary people coping with dementia as well as they can. These stories are helpful to people experiencing dementia now, reflecting challenges and loss, certainly while crucially allowing space for hope and possibility. 

This theme will be particularly prominent when I discuss how music and the arts can help following a dementia diagnosis in ‘Finding Hope in Creativity: Music Is Medicine’ at LIFI this year. Vicky McClure will be in appearance and founded Our Dementia Choir to create opportunities for people affected by dementia to connect through music. The choir will be performing at the event, and in doing so are creating new, positive stories of their own.