31/05/2026
Article by Yvette Huddlestone in Yorkshire Post published May 25th 2026. Yvette has been a wonderful supporter of our Ensemble for the last ten years
'Performance Ensemble production Sinfonia tells the stories of older people in Harrogate and district.
Last time I spoke to Alan Lyddiard about a year ago, he was planning to not exactly retire, but to step back a little from his role as artistic director at the Performance Ensemble, the company he founded in 2016.
However, at the age of 77 he is in fact as busy as ever. Now, as the company celebrates its 10th anniversary, Lyddiard is back at the helm of a production that heads to Harrogate next month. For the past decade the Performance Ensemble has been at the forefront of a movement to change societal attitudes towards age and aging. Awarded National Portfolio status by Arts Council England in 2023, it creates high-quality cutting-edge contemporary theatre with older professional and community performers, all aged over 60. It is the UK’s first organisation of a permanent collective of older artists and the work they do is both ground-breaking and life-enhancing.
Their latest show is a revival of their production Sinfonia which was first staged at Leeds Playhouse three years ago as the centrepiece of the 1001 Stories festival, a two-week takeover of the Playhouse conceived and delivered by the company celebrating creativity and ageing. A combination of storytelling, live music and dance, Sinfonia involved around 30 performers and was a joyous, profound and moving experience for audience and participants alike. It is a project that is very close to Lyddiard’s heart and one that merits revisiting. “I always wanted to develop it further as a touring piece,” he says. “Essentially it goes to a place and is created with the people there, so while the process and the template are the same, it is a different version every time.”
The Performance Ensemble's latest production of Sinfonia heads to Harrogate next month.
This new iteration features older residents of Harrogate telling their own stories. “We have been working with organisations and groups in the town that work with or care for older people and look after their needs and wellbeing,” says Lyddiard. “We meet people, engage with them and things grow step by step, organically. We hear stories that are amazing. It is about gaining people’s trust, discovering what they care about and what they are keen to share. It all starts with conversations over a cup of tea – there is never any pressure or expectation to perform. I describe the process as a search for meaning in the seemingly insignificant moments in life that become meaningful with hindsight. Those are the stories that stay with you. Gradually the people who want to share their story with an audience become the cast. Then we begin rehearsals.”
For many of those taking part it will be their first time on stage in front of an audience. “They are performers but they are not actors – they are not pretending to be somebody else, they are themselves, telling their story,” says Lyddiard. “It is a generous act on their part, but listening to their story is also an act of generosity. Older people are very rarely listened to. We want to change that.” It is a gently radical approach that aims to alter the narrative around age and aging in a quietly revolutionary way.
Throughout his long career as a stage and film director, producer and writer, Lyddiard, has been an advocate of collaborative ensemble working and breaking down the barriers between professional, amateur and community practice to create professional work with, and within, local communities. Sinfonia and projects like it harness the creativity, imagination and humanity within all of us and are rooted in the belief that everyone’s story has value. For the Harrogate show there will be around ten new performers, supported by members of the Ensemble; in total there will be around 15-20 people on stage.
Themes explored in the production are diverse and universal. “Love comes up a lot, and in the times we are living through where there is so much divisiveness, it feels like a real coming together of people who care about each other,” says Lyddiard. “There is sadness too – death, loss and grief, but there are joyous moments and sometimes there is a joke or two. It is a mixture of things. Ultimately it is about sharing humanity.” Having seen previous versions myself, it is certain to be affecting, warm, funny, uplifting and empowering. “I hope what we are doing is growing a movement that recognises that older people have much to contribute to society,” says Lyddiard. “And demonstrating how when you bring creativity into your life things become better for you and for others.”'
