We're still collecting donations
On the 29th November 2024 we'd raised £2,360 with 69 supporters in 31 days. But as every pound matters, we're continuing to collect donations from supporters.
Free creative workshops that develop tools for people to live well with grief & explore their grief safely.Theatre show touring alongside
by Emma spearing in Saffron Walden, , United Kingdom
On the 29th November 2024 we'd raised £2,360 with 69 supporters in 31 days. But as every pound matters, we're continuing to collect donations from supporters.
Hello lovely folk & fabulous friends,
We are raising funds to provide FREE spaces to bereaved people who want to attend our creative community grief workshops.
I'm Emma, an actor, theatre maker & an identical twin. 10 years ago I lost my twin sister Charlie to Cancer aged 38. Trying to understand how to live without my twin has been a long and difficult journey. I have used my background in creativity and storytelling to unpack huge, complicated feelings and slowly put myself back together again.
I've been developing my debut theatre show 'Whole' supported by an award-winning creative team and a host of fantastic venues & community partners. The show is a messy love story about the loss of my twin & the journeys we take to re-find ourselves in our darkest moments. It will be touring to 7 venues across the East of England in April 2025.
Alongside the tour I want to be able to offer a creative space for other grievers.
The Community Workshops
We’re proud to be partnering with The Loss Project who will deliver a series of 8 free online creative workshops for participants to explore their own grief journeys during January, February and March 2025 https://www.thelossproject.com/
This space will allow people to develop a toolkit for living well with grief and will culminate in a simple art installation called 'The Library of Precious Things'
At the end of 8 sessions, each attendee should go away with a set of creative skills with which to explore their grief safely, and be able to refer back to as they move through their grief journey thereafter.
Why do we need this?
Let's face it, we don't open up a lot about grief and death in our culture.
Marie Curie, the UK's leading end of life charity, found;
Bereaved people in the UK are avoiding talking about loved ones after they die, with 33% of people saying they have frequently avoided talking about their loss because they knew it would make other people uncomfortable. This is despite nearly half saying talking was a preferred way of celebrating the life of a loved one.
About The Show
“My sister smells of wood smoke, warm earth, oranges, and dust… we buried you in a wood, underneath an oak tree. There are bluebells there in April.“
Whole is a show about two people - one of them is on stage, the other isn't.
Emma has been looking for a way to fill the gaping hole her identical twin sister’s death has left behind. So, she thought she would make a show for them. Only it's proving a little tricky because Emma doesn’t like doing things on her own.
Every night a volunteer from the audience will join Emma on stage to assist her in performing the show.
A unique and intimate experience that uses visual imagery, storytelling, and inspiration from an anarchic ginger cat, Whole explores a tender, messy love story about siblings, loss and the healing power of a creative mission. Expect ghost stories, music, and the magic of community.
Uplifting, life affirming and different every night, Whole takes a peek into the journeys we take to re-find ourselves in our darkest moments.
The script and set design is currently being redeveloped ahead of the tour.
Creative Team for WHOLE
Kirsty Housley - Director
Caroline Horton - Dramaturg
Zoe Gibbons - Producer
Kane Husbands - Movement Director
Dom Kennedy - Sound Designer
Lou Platt - Artist Wellbeing Consultant
Jamie Wood - (Co-collaborator & director in development)
Naomi Dawson - (Set Designer in development)
Kristina Hjelm - (Lighting designer in development)
Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and artsdepot (artist residency programme 24-25)
Winner of the Stobbs Troop New Ideas Development award 2019
Supported by Cambridge Junction & METAL
Tour Dates
Wednesday 20th November 2024 @ Cambridge Junction (work-in-progress)
Wednesday 9th April 2025 @ The Mercury, Colchester
Saturday 12th April @ Harlow Playhouse
Tuesday 15th & Wednesday 16th April @ Camden People's Theatre
Thursday 17th April @ Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds
Wednesday 23rd April @ the Place, Bedford
Friday 25th April @ Sir John Mills Theatre @ Eastern Angles, Ipswich
Our Partners:
The Loss Project
Loss is a universal experience that will affect us all at some point in our lives. Our vision is to help people to feel more confident to explore the many faces of grief and loss. Losses come in various forms; including the loss of health, independence, community, connection, confidence, jobs, relationships and of course, of loved ones. We're on a mission to challenge the status quo and to provide life affirming services that give people the tools and confidence to support themselves and their communities. We work with people across the lifespan of all ages including with children and young people, all the way through to families and older adults. Movement, sport, creativity, and the arts, are vital in our work; from our experience they can be great tools to help us unlock how we feel, find meaning and provide some respite (and at times fun) from our difficult experiences. The Loss Project (TLP) is a community interest company, founded in 2019 by Carly Attridge, our mission is to challenge the stigma and taboo, cutting through the barriers of difficult conversations and subjects that can often remain unspoken
St Clare Hospice
St Clare Hospice is a charity providing specialist palliative care to improve the lives of people affected by a life-limiting illness in West Essex and the borders of East Hertfordshire. Our care helps patients, their families, and carers, to make the most of every moment together, no matter how long they have left to live. We support them at home and in the Hospice.
We offer a range of free, palliative and end of life care services to suit the needs of all local people who are facing death, dying and bereavement. We also offer community-based, volunteer-led support to help support local people in relation to living, and dying, well.
The Ask...
In this highly competitive arts funding landscape, we've been awarded a grant by Arts Council England to fund 67% of the project’s overall costs. Venues have also provided us with a minimum guaranteed fee (covering 9% of our costs) and we’re also being generously supported by several venues who have offered free rehearsal space, marketing support and mentorship covering 14% of our total costs.
However, we still need to raise the final 10% (£3500) to be able to deliver the community workshops
Breakdown of Costs
To cover The Loss Project's fee to design, project manage and deliver 8 bespoke creative workshops + materials for Installation and photography for 'The Library of Precious Things' = £3500
Facilitator fee £400 per workshop x8 = £3200
Photography & Installation materials fee =£300
Total = £3500
Workshop outline:
Sessions 1 and 2
Bring an object of any kind, which can serve as a prompt to talk about the person they have lost or the reason they wanted to attend the session.
Development of a ‘memory palace’ in honour of the person you are remembering; visually mapping how you may choose to hold them in your mind.
Consideration of colour as therapy and discussion of sensory catharsis, ie music that connects you to your person, sound baths, the relationship between colour and memory. Creativity as catharsis.
Regular pauses and reconvening to share stories, where appropriate.
Sessions 3 and 4 – Development of ideas, living well with grief, a toolkit.
Developing a toolkit for living well with grief is a creative approach allowing all kinds of grief to be held and intersect (as they often do).
The toolkit allows for multiple forms of grief to be expressed creatively.
Sessions 5 and 6 – sharing stories, supporting one another, the community around you and your individual grief vs universal grief
Space to talk about the very non-linear experience of grief share modes of coping.
Session 6-8 Writing, painting and collage. Creativity as catharsis.
At the end of 8 sessions, each attendee should go away with a set of creative skills with which to explore their grief safely, and to be able to refer back to as they move through their grief journey thereafter.
We are also very open to what happens in the space and that this journey needs to be sensitive and not rigid with outcomes.
The Library of Precious Things idea comes from my personal experience of not being able to get rid of any of my sisters things because of the memories and stories they hold.
Other ways to support the project
If you are unable to support the project financially, in order to ensure this project reaches as many people as possible, please do share our campaign and come along with friends to see the show.
You can also connect with us via:
@wholetheplay
Instagram & X
X (formally Twitter):
@emma_spearing
Or by emailing Whole’s producer [email protected]
This project offered rewards