Recalling memories through reminiscence theatre

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to study how a reminiscence theatre production develops dramaturgically, and to discuss what impact it has on the participants who take part in the project “The aged as a resource”. The theatre performance Number Our Days is visually and verbally presented and interpreted in this article. The reader also gets an opportunity to look at film extracts from the performance in electronic form. The theoretical framing is based on a performative mindset, Ryum’s dramaturgic model, Ranciere’s view on the emancipated spectator, Turner and Behrndt’s devising theatre universe, Saldana’s ethnodrama method and Ricoeur’s perspective of the capable and relational human being who builds their own narrative identity through communication.