The Show

‘Beyond Dreams of Aberystwyth’ is a one-woman show written and performed by Emma Decent and directed by Dick Bonham. It was developed with support from the Arts Council and other partners in Spring 2013, and performed at Theatre in the Mill, Bradford, the Lowry, Salford, the Carriageworks, Leeds and other venues and festivals in 2013-2014, to great reviews and audience responses.
‘A beautiful story. I can’t recommend it highly enough.’
Clancy Walker, Guest Theatre Reviewer, BBC Radio Leeds

The show toured from 2013 and is still active. Alongside it Emma runs a Beyond Dreams Life-Writing Workshop for venues which are interested, in which she encourages participants to tell their story: a creative workshop using life-writing, story-sharing and objects. See also Teaching.

‘The sense of a journey into a personal history is managed wonderfully. Drawing on her immense talent as a performance poet Decent’s delivery is calming and delightful to listen to throughout.’
Leeds List

Show publicity

In 2009 Emma’s Dad died. Days later she found out he’d had a child with a woman he abandoned heartbroken and pregnant in the 1950s. The revelation sends her on a round-the-world trip, starting at Aberystwyth, the coastal Welsh town where he’d conducted the relationship and where Emma spent three years as a drama student. In a quest to make peace with her father and her own history Emma follows in his footsteps, discovering their Jewish heritage in Europe, his film-star dreams in the Far East, and finishing in the place she was born – Toronto. Part travelogue, part autobiographical myth-making, Emma uses her trademark poetic writing and multi-media to express an impossible search for truth.

‘It’s not often you’ll be captivated like that. A show which will sneak into your heart and paint intricate pictures in your mind.’
Genevieve Walsh, writer & broadcaster

Further information

Events  Show & workshop dates
Feedback and Reviews of the Show
Media  Articles and interviews about the project
BBC Radio 4’s Midweek  Listen again to Emma’s interview
Venue Show Pack  Read or download here: Beyond Dreams of Aberystwyth Venue Pack .compressed

For more information or to book the show please contact Emma:  emmadecent@talk21.com

Show trailer

 

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