Dears’ Diaries is a series spotlighting the voices behind We’ll Take It From Here, Dear – our bold new theatre piece exploring the quiet ways older women are patronised, underestimated and stripped of agency.
Through conversations with Moving Memory’s core performance company, we’re sharing reflections on ageing, creativity, power and the process of creating this urgent new work together.
Dears’ Diaries: Glyn
Glyn has been part of Moving Memory since the very beginning – before it even had the name Moving Memory.
“I joined right at the start, when a friend waved a flyer under my nose and said, ‘that looks like your sort of thing.’ I didn’t really know what sort of thing it was.”
That first invitation led to a company that would grow over more than 15 years – and, for Glyn, something that has remained constantly alive.
“It’s never static. We don’t stagnate in a little ‘this is what we do’ kind of thing – we progress each time.”
She remembers the very first performance: an outdoor work with a jazz band: “We wore these quite horrible synthetic satin ball gowns, and it was so windy we were trying to hide behind trees while doing our entrance. The dresses were flying everywhere – and so was the music.”
“It was very basic, but we had such a ball doing it. It was fun and different.”
Over the years, she says it is the people – and the way the company is held – that has kept her returning.
“It’s the people. We get on so well when we’re working. And our creative director Sian is the glue that holds it all together – she’s impeccably kind, but she still pushes us further.”
That combination of care and challenge runs through the process creating We’ll Take It From Here, Dear – a new work developed with the core company exploring how older women are patronised, underestimated and pushed aside.
Glyn describes the process as one of risk and expansion: “We’ve been talking about being fearless – taking risks in performance. It’s easy to fall into familiar movement patterns, but we’re coming out of that now. We’re being more expansive.”
At 78, she says the company continues to challenge assumptions about what older bodies can do.
“If you think, ‘God, I’m nearly 80, would I be doing physical theatre like this?’ Of course not – but yes, we are.”
At the heart of the work is a shared resistance to being defined by limitation.
“That phrase ‘we’ll take it from here, dear’ – it’s that idea of ‘you can’t do this, we’ll do it for you.’ That kind of quiet assumption about capability.”
Glyn describes the work as something built through co-creation – shaped in the room, together: “It’s like an apprenticeship. I’ve learnt by watching, by doing, by being part of it. I can run workshops now – things I never thought I’d be able to do.”
“We’re co-creating it. That’s what makes it work.”
“I hope the audience will say ‘Wow. Look at that bunch of older women – how they move.’ Maybe people will pause before they make assumptions about older people.”
“It’s chaos, but it’s brilliant.”
On 17 June, We’ll Take It From Here, Dear (Work in Progress) is premiering at The Grand Folkestone as part of Wavelengths Festival.
Secure your free tickets here.
We’ll Take It From Here, Dear has been generously supported by Arts Council England.