In early 2021, the Contemporary Narratives Lab embarked on its second project, bringing together interactive theatre-maker Coney and the Health Inequality team at Bureau Local, part of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. The project was funded by a research grant from City, University of London.
Unlike our previous pilot project, this partnership between Coney and the Bureau took over a longer ten-week period to create opportunities for sustained dialogue and collaboration. Both parties used the opportunity to work with the public, reporting with rather than on people affected by changes to home care during the pandemic.
As part of their investigations, the Bureau ran “Open Newsrooms” — one-hour online events that were open to the public, sometimes led by panelists, to allow everyone to delve deeper into a topic area. For this project, Coney designed an “After-Party” experience that allowed participants to reflect on, and share with each other, what they learnt during the Care in a Time of Crisis Open Newsroom.
The investigation yielded an exclusive story delving into the true number of deaths amongst home care recipients in England and Scotland during the pandemic.
To accompany and build on the reporting in the article, Coney created a digital storytelling tool to help people document their perspective and circumstances. We hoped this might form the beginning of a self-sustaining community, and that individuals and the families of those who receive assistance, who believe they’re invisible, would feel acknowledged.
At the conclusion of the project, Dr Glenda Cooper wrote a full research report on HOME/CARE. That report is available as a downloadable PDF here.
From the blog
When Journalism Meets Theatre
So what's the point of putting journalists together with a theatre company, when one seems to deal in fact and the other in fiction?
Avoiding the pitfalls of partnership
It was an exciting proposal bringing together artists, journalists, researchers and the public. But I quickly realised that there were huge lessons to be learned about common (mis)understandings, milestones and principles, as well as who was paying for what and when.
HOME ∕ CARE Report
At the end of the project, which was funded by a research grant from City, University of London, Dr Glenda Cooper wrote a full report detailing the issues the project sought to address, the events and activities that took place, and our learnings from it.