The Colours and The Colours of Loss

In September 2022, Crowded Room Theatre Company partnered with the University of Bristol to run two creative workshops with small groups of bereaved people. Guided by a facilitator, the participants worked together to create a fictional story inspired by the death of a beloved tree. Their words and voices were recorded and then edited together to form The Colours of Loss, a new fictional audio story which movingly explores the varied and volatile emotions that follow loss.Edited by Mark Knightley.Workshops designed by Lesel Dawson, Amanda Seyderhelm, Mark Knightley & Harriet Madeley.Research conducted by Lucy Pocock, Lesel Dawson & Rachel Hare.Music by Jordan Mallory-Skinner.Produced by Hannah Tookey. Image by Luke W RobsonThank you to all contributors to the piece.

In 2018, Harriet Madeley arrived at a seaside hospice in South Wales, intending to explore the most universal and individual, normal and abnormal of situations: nearing the end of life.Over the course of several months, she audio-recorded interviews with patients, their families and palliative care professionals. These were woven together into The Colours, a Crowded Room theatre piece that premiered at Soho Theatre and Rowan’s Hospice in 2019.Marie Curie observed in their write-up:For healthy people, there’s a certain fascination with being close to death. What do people nearing the end of their lives know that we don’t? Perhaps knowing death is near leads to a new understanding of life’s meaning. Or maybe a clearer vision of what it is to be alive?During the course of conducting interviews, Harriet was diagnosed with a potentially life-limiting illness (PSC). Funded by an Arts Council National Lottery Project Grant, this brand-new audio adaptation brings many of the voices from The Colours back to life whilst exposing the acutely personal story behind its making for the first time, and examining the role of creativity in reckoning with mortality.Directed by Max BartonWritten by Harriet MadeleySound design by Jethro CookeWith thanks to Dr Idris Baker, Ty Olwen Hospice, Dr Mark Taubert, Velindre Cancer Centre and all interviewees. The words spoken by Dr Baker and Dr Taubert have been combined into a single character for simplicity of storytelling.