My home, my castle, my container, my prison?

How do we imagine the future of where and how we live? Who will we live with? What can we afford? What will our lives look like and how will we manage?

This sensitive, humorous and moving performance, with original songs and live soundscapes, explores:

Behind our doorbells and front doors, how are we dreaming of the future?

Doorbells: Dreaming for the Future has been commissioned by Care & Repair England and Elders Council of Newcastle, supported by Northumbria University.

Care & Repair England is an independent charitable organisation established in 1986 to improve older people’s housing.

Heléna Herklots Chief Executive of Carers UK said: “Our ageing population has created a new generation of older people who are devoting their retirement to caring for their parents, relatives and partners – a challenge previous generations have not faced.”

In England and Wales, Almost 1.3 million retired people are caring for ill partners or their own ageing parents. Census figures suggest this represents a dramatic increase of 35% in the last ten years.

The Institute of Public Policy Research says that in 2012 there were 1.2 million people aged over 65 without adult children and estimates that by 2030, this will rise to approximately 2 million. Some 230,000 will be in need of more than 20 hours’ care a week, and many will not have immediate family support.

By 2025 almost one in every four people in the UK, will be aged over 65 (ONS 2011)(1) and currently in Newcastle 37% of people aged 65 and over, live alone (2). Such statistics raise critical questions such as whose responsibility is it to secure all our futures, our individual and collective older age.

Audience feedback

“Beautifully done and very moving.” – Elders Council of Newcastle.

“A huge thank you for this great piece of work…you really are ahead of the game and others have a lot to learn from you.” – Care & Repair England.

“Lovely use of humour and reverie to get the story told. Thought provoking. Alone but not lonely. But. . .food for thought. I have a husband 9 years older than me – will he still be here? Where would I like to be? Where are MY friends from school?” Audience member.

“Incredibly important story to talk about and fantastic inter-generational audience. Surprisingly entertaining for such a complicated and difficult subject. I started to know her and now want to know what happens next – what does she do? A soap opera! Some beautiful filming and loved the songs.” Audience member.

“It was an interesting and thought provoking film….I hope it gets seen by many groups of people. It reminded me of a conversation with a friend who felt decisions should be discussed with friends as well as family, as family might have a pushy, domineering stance. Moving is a big decision.” Audience member.

“In this film I think there was something we could all relate to.” Audience member.

“A very thought provoking film with so many things to question.” Audience member.

“The film and discussion prompted a lot of concerns I’ve had for a while around what feels like a shift in culture to selfish consumerism and a reluctance to help others when it doesn’t suit the individual. I’m from a very small, close community and I’m worried about this culture shift as it has made the community I’m from a very different and more difficult place to the one I grew up in. I’m only 25.” Audience member.