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: Meire
When Meire first saw Moving Memory perform Cracking the Crinoline, she cried.
“It was these beautiful older women being absolutely fearless and challenging the audience. I thought it was incredibly powerful.”
Years later, after plucking up the courage to tell creative director Sian Stevenson how much she admired the company’s work, she found herself joining a workshop, then a performance, and eventually the core company itself. Now, six years on, she describes the experience as transformative.
“One of the things I didn’t expect was how serious and committed we all are. We talk about things deeply. We develop ideas. We take the physical work really seriously.”
That process has shaped the development of We’ll Take It From Here, Dear, a new work exploring what happens when older women are patronised, underestimated or have decisions made on their behalf. For Meire, the themes resonate because ageism is not just something imposed on older women – it can become something they impose on themselves.
“We do this to ourselves as well. Sometimes you think: ‘Can I really do that?’”
Creating the work has become an act of resistance against those doubts: “I can do this. I can shout louder. I can say I don’t care.”
At the same time, Meire speaks warmly about the trust that sits at the heart of the core company. She says: “There’s a real sense of trust and sisterhood. We know each other. We trust each other.”
That trust has allowed the company to create work that is physically ambitious, emotionally honest and unafraid to challenge expectations of what older women can do.
“Our bodies are older, but we’re challenging the idea that we’re just going to sit here and do small things.”
“We’re making it bigger. We’re making it bolder.”
When audiences come to see We’ll Take It From Here, Dear, Meire hopes they leave with a renewed curiosity about ageing and a greater appreciation of older women’s lives, experiences and capabilities. Most of all, she wants them to experience something she believes should be far more common.
“The beauty of older bodies on stage is incredible.”
“Why isn’t it normalised?”
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.