Care workers perform dementia-friendly panto for residents...Oh yes they did!

A dementia-friendly panto with a three-day run has been performed for residents in a care home after staff spent three months of their free time learning how to act.

Unable to allow entertainers inside their care home, staff at Orchard Manor Care home in Chester decided to end a challenging year by putting on a Cinderella pantomime themselves.

While social care is often seen as the 'Cinderella' service coming second after the NHS, it was apt that staff selected the fairytale for residents to watch.

They sought expert help from the care home’s mental health nurse Donna Dale who is also a theatre director with her own company DNS (Donna and Sash productions).

Donna Dale waved a magic Cinderella-style wand over the care home and transformed the care workers, who had never stepped foot in a theatre in their lives, into shining stars of the panto world.

With costumes borrowed from her close contacts in the theatre world, three months of rehearsals every Tuesday and help from the home's maintenance man Garry Vowels - who set up lighting, smoke machines and a grand finale of fireworks - the show really did go on.

On Friday 18th December, nervous staff wearing masks finally performed a dress rehearsal. This was followed by two performances of the one-hour long show on Saturday 19 December, Monday 21 December and Tuesday 22 December.

Alison Lancaster, the care home manager told carehome.co.uk on Tuesday: “Usually Christmas brings lots of entertainment for residents but we could not have performers coming into the home because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Every Tuesday night for three months, staff gave up their own time to rehearse for the play.

“Today is our last day of performances and it's quite sad.

“With everything that care homes have been through this year it’s wonderful to be able to get a laugh and cheer everyone up. We really need that. “It’s also nice for families to see the residents are still being entertained.

“I believe we had an outbreak of COVID in the early days but we didn’t have testing back then so we don’t know for sure whether it was COVID. Those were sad times but we have thankfully had nothing since July."

Describing the pantomine’s dementia-friendly script, Ms Lancaster said: “Our words are quite short and to the point, not drawn out and long winded. We are acting it out more rather than speaking it and singing lots of songs that residents would remember.

“The residents were singing along. Those that were bedbound did not miss out. We gave them a song and a dance in their rooms. "The show has defiantly boosted morale with families not being able to visit their loved ones".

The socially-distanced pantomime show has been recorded and DVDs have been selling at a price of £10 each to help pay for a £5,000 dementia-friendly touch table for residents to use called Tovertafel.

“There has been huge demand to see the show”.

Is it behind them? She says far from it. The bright lights of the stage will be up again next year. “Next year, we hope to perform Jack and the Beanstalk and we think it could be something to roll out to other care homes … yes… we hope to go on tour”.

click here for more details or to contact Orchard Manor Care Home