Granny Jackson's Dead by Big Telly Theatre Company Neil Harrison Photography
Members of the public are invited to be part of a live Irish-style wake this week [Thursday 10 to Sunday 13 October] to explore how new digital technologies can influence the way we memorialise and remember loved ones.
Big Telly's critically acclaimed performance Granny Jackson's Dead will be showing in Weston-super-Mare as part of Good Grief Weston, a festival of love and loss.
The drama surrounds Granny Jackson's family who are at somewhat different ends of the digital spectrum and do not agree on how best to grieve and memorialise their beloved matriarch.
In an immersive experience, audiences will be able to join the drama, meet the family, help make the tea and be offered a VR headset which brings Granny Jackson to life. as tradition collides with 21st Century technology Should they let her spirit go free, or preserve her digital footprint – and might Granny's voice have a say in the matter beyond the grave?
Tickets to the Weston shows from Thursday 10 – Sunday 13 October, are pay-what-you-decide from £5. Book at Super Culture Events.
Good Grief Weston 2024 is a programme of activities and events across North Somerset that aim to open up conversations around death and bereavement, with honesty, compassion, joy and sometimes with humour.
The festival is produced by Super Culture in collaboration with the University of Bristol and the Weston-super-Mare Community Network, as part of the national Coastal Community and Creative Health project.
The unfolding drama – featuring a local resident starring as Granny herself – will take place at a house in Graham Road in Weston. Be part of a live Irish-style wake in a living room in audiences will meet the family, help make the tea and be offered a VR headset which brings Granny Jackson back from the grave, dancing merrily into the centre of her own Wake.
Expect home truths, twists, turns, and of course, tea in a delightfully dysfunctional family function, that includes local artists performing with the Big Telly Theatre company for the Weston shows.
Fiona Matthews, Creative Director at Super Culture said: "Twenty-first Century technology brings a whole new dimension to the notion of 'voices from beyond the grave'. It's fair to say that Granny Jackson's family are at somewhat different ends of the digital spectrum and do not agree on how best to grieve and memorialise their beloved matriarch. Come along to Granny's wake, and see whether it's ashes, pixels or something else entirely that holds meaning for you."
