OUR HISTORY

Peggy had a stroke and she lost some of her memories. Rather than lament it, she and Lois decided to fill those blank spaces with new images and experiences. They named this process Green Screening.

Inspired by Peggy’s stroke experience, they created the performance work RUFF: a solo theatre piece that delves into life before and after stroke from an entertaining and musical outlook. This served as Peggy’s own support for recovery.

RUFF uses a cinematic technique to help Peggy reconstruct the memories missing after her stroke on stage. With the help of a green screen and video cameras, she is joined by a pre-recorded swing band and her favourite movie stars.

The technology concept was initially developed by Matt Delbridge in the Deakin Motion.lab (Australia). Peggy tried a motion capture suit and was surprised by the freedom of movement she felt when playing with her avatar on screen.

Lois and Peggy discovered that Green Screening was a powerful technique to awaken imagination by placing people inside their own fantasies.

The Stroke Association (UK) invited them to deliver interactive talks to stroke support groups and they decided to use the same technology.

The project invited researchers from Queen Mary University of London to collaborate.

Rosella Galindo and Prof Patrick Healey, from the Cognitive Science Research group, further developed the technology and redesigned the workshop to study the benefits of using performing arts and technology in stroke support.

The Centre for Public Engagement (QMUL) awarded the Green Screening Workshop a grant to deliver sessions for more stroke support groups around England.

During the pandemic, the project is focusing on promoting online resources for remote support.

We also offer training sessions for creative practitioners to disseminate the methodologies and technology tools we have developed.