Callum’s nearest and dearest are gathering to give him a good send-off. The bar is open, just like he wanted, and there’s a buffet table groaning with his favourite sweet and savoury snacks.
The time comes for the celebrant to say a few words about Callum — but they’re not the only one in the room with something important to say…
As the cling film comes off the samosas and fondant fancies, the lid gets lifted on the assembled guests’ secret lives — declarations of love and admissions of hidden heartache — journeys of self-discovery and self-acceptance — simple acts of kindness and fleeting connections which have had profound and lasting impacts.
Don’t Leave Me This Way is a funny, moving, bittersweet new show which explores ageing, love, sex, and relationships through a semi-improvised theatrical wake, featuring a cast with a majority of performers aged 55+. In Spring 2027, the show will embark on a pilot tour to seven rural and community venues across the West Midlands — with buffet snacks included within the price of each ticket.
The show forms a special piece of action research within Little Earthquake’s much wider national inquiry, which aims to capture and contextualise the experiences of older practitioners involved in small-scale touring. At the end of the activity, we’ll publish a case study, making recommendations for sector change which can better support those who want or need to keep working later in life.
As one strand of that research, we’ve developed an easy-to-complete online survey to help us hear from people aged 55 or over who play some part in the small-scale touring process — including those who make, appear in, or produce touring productions; those who present or promote touring productions; those who support or fund touring productions; or those who attend touring productions as audiences.
If you’re aged 55 or over, based in the UK, are involved in the small-scale touring of live performance, and would like to take part in our online survey — click the button below:
