Beautiful End
‘Beautiful End’ is a creative response to the novel of the same title by Cumbrian writer Constance Holme who lived and wrote from Milnthorpe and Arnside, Cumbria. The novel, also a one-act play called ‘The Home of Vision’, concerns the life and care of an elderly tenant farmer by his living relatives and is set in and around the Kent Estuary with recognisable locations close to Heron Mill, the commissioning organisation behind the project. It provokes and challenges assumptions about old age, home and identity.
I discovered the novel amongst the Heron Mill archives during my residency in 2016.
Popular in the 1930s and then forgotten, its concerns with regard to ageing, the imagination and welfare seem still relevant today.
Between November 2017 and June 2018 I worked with musicians Carolyn Francis and creative artist Luke Crookes along with participants from Stonecross Care Home and Wings School sourcing ideas for further development.
The project involved exploratory workshops by the artists, practical enquiry workshops with participants, a sharing weekend of performance, readings and talks with a photographic exhibition.
Supported by the Hadfield Trust, Westmorland Arts Trust, Granada Foundation and Heron Corn Mill.
View samples from the workshops here and latest blog post here
