Inner Sanctum

INNER SANCTUM has been developed by second year students studying production and performance. The project builds on a long-term collaboration between staff and students of Drama and Nursing (led by senior nursing lecturer, Pat Deeny, and lecturer in drama, Dr Matt Jennings), using drama techniques to improve communication skills and patient-centred care.

The team has also collaborated creatively and conducted research with the international Fun Palace event (supported by #Derry Creatives), the Theatre of Witness project at The Playhouse (Derry~Londonderry), Bread and Roses Theatre Company (Donegal) and the Banyan Theatre Company, who specialise in puppetry and theatre for young audiences.

The work has been informed by real experiences of care, from health care in hospital settings to our most fundamental relationships, creating a thought provoking and moving collection of performed stories.

Audiences of all kinds will be able to connect with the stories, join in the games and explore the spaces.

Dr Matt Jennings has described INNER SANCTUM as, “a sci-fi fairytale, exploring the idea of care, leading audiences on an adventure throughout the Foyle Arts Centre building, down to a basement of forgotten things and up to an attic of dreams. Android orphans, a ward of shadows, a memory garden, and a starry sanctuary where you hear your own thoughts”.

Many of the ideas evolved from intimate conversations and personal experience, as well as research into health care through history and into the future. The team, including drama student and set designer, Hannah Fullerton, is transforming the Foyle Arts Centre, creating “a dystopian world where our deepest feelings collide with the routines of the institution, combining cabaret, comedy, shadow puppets, games, performance art and theatre. INNER SANCTUM explores the tension between love and science, feelings and treatment, self and other. Follow the quest. Answer the question. Find the INNER SANCTUM”.

INNER SANCTUM will consist of nine performances over three days with show times at 1pm, 5pm and 8pm from 18-20 January 2017. For bookings, please email: innersanctum@mail.com or text/call Aoife Nugent on 07716568806. Tickets are: full price £5 or £3 Concession.

Group bookings may be eligible for a discount rate. The performance is open to all members of the general public – so feel free to spread the word - but there will be a limited audience of 32 per show, so early booking is advised. Anyone intending to come should book asap, as some sessions are already almost fully booked.