Following the cancellation of Vincent Dance Theatre’s spring tour, I am pleased to announce that Arts Depot, Falmouth University, MÓTUS, South East Dance and Stamford Arts Centre have come together to host In Loco Parentis online for a week, allowing audiences to watch this emotionally compelling piece of dance theatre at their convenience – and for free – online from 6pm, 7 October – midnight, 11 October.  The screenings will be accompanied by an online Q&A with Charlotte Vincent.   Watch the trailer. 

Critically acclaimed for translating real-life testimonies into performance work, Vincent’s latest work In Loco Parentis sheds light on the extraordinary resilience of care-experienced young people, demanding that their stories be seen and heard.

“In Loco Parentis conveys, with its arduous carousel of disordered and disrupted interactions, the visceral emotional labour involved in surviving – and creating – home.”  The Psychologist

In Loco Parentis is the latest in a series of dance theatre work by Charlotte Vincent on the themes of home, family and belonging which began with Vincent’s one off production The Art of Attachment in 2018. In Loco Parentis focusses on the children themselves, and reflects on inherited cycles of trauma, rupture and repair that drive children into foster care, care homes and adoptive families.

The production is emotionally involving and psychologically layered.  The adult performers (VDT regular collaborators, Robert Clark, Aurora Lubos and Janusz Orlik) adopt diverse roles as care-givers, victims and abusers, reflecting the way adults pass through the lives of children within the care system. The stories of the children meanwhile, delivered in part via recorded testimonies and in part by the performances of 11 year old Tia and 13 year old Kye, are fragmented and contradictory, dominated as they are by the strong adult presence on stage, as in real life.

With text written by Wendy Houstoun and music composed by Jules Maxwell, In Loco Parentis combines spoken word with movement and strong visual imagery to illuminate the children’s inner worlds and pinpoint their extraordinary resilience.  The film of the production has been captued by Charlotte Vincent’s long-standing film-maker collaborator Bosie Vincent.  Watch Vincent Dance Theatre’s In Loco Parentis Explained video HERE to find out more.

Audience response in Worthing and Barnsley:

“Wonderful piece – really beautiful very, very moving” Audience member & Q+A participant

“This piece strikes to heart of what it’s like to be within the madness of it all [care system]” Audience member & Q+A participant

“What a profound piece. Charlotte is so skilled being able to translate complex dynamics into such a creative and accessible performance. I loved the multi layering that was there and your varied use of media. I thought this enabled the audience to have a sense of the confusion around for our children… I actually think it was so profound that some were stunned into silence. I think many will be processing what they experienced for many weeks.” Louise Michelle Bombèr, Strategic Attachment Lead Teacher & Therapist (Post-show Q+A Panel Member)

“Congratulations for a cracking show last night. Always challenging and such a brilliant cast – a true VDT experience.” Cath James, Artistic Director, South East Dance

“That’s my life there on stage” Audience Member & Foster Carer

“Excellent show, really enjoyed it, the performers, music content, best yet!!” Audience Member

“Many people were moved to tears… [some] from the very first to the very final scene.”  Audience member

“Insightful performance, understanding and compassionate. Would recommend to see this company.”  Audience member

“The children performing were incredible” Audience member

“A night of vivid dreams about your work… the word that came up over and over was ‘belonging’: what it means to belong to ourselves and to a family, and how can we find that if we are only shown abandonment? And how that sense of belonging to ourselves or to others shapes us. It felt like more than ‘attachment’ somehow. Work to chew on and mull over. Bravo. Thank you”. Audience member