What is it like to be a child to a parent who is changing, aging; no longer the person our memories carry?

These are the themes explored in Declining Solo, a new piece from Bulgarian-born performer Katherina Radeva, who tells the story of her own father’s decline using music, text and dance. 

She says: “Declining Solo is a deeply honest show about our mortality and how we feel it most keenly when watching those we love change.”

Inside a set built of huge pieces of paper suspended from the ceiling, Alister Lownie narrates, representing the stream of consciousness in Katherina’s mind as she travels through the story of her relationship with a father she no longer recognises, and a world that seems increasingly unwelcoming. 

Video taken in Katherina’s father’s home is intertwined with stories of her childhood, through to the present day where her father, the man who taught her how to navigate the world, can no longer navigate his.  

Two Destination Language say they have adopted a way of working that suits the current climate for theatre makers, bringing in practitioners from specialisms across the theatre spectrum to help get ideas onto the stage, exploring questions of identity, belonging and culture. 

You can see Declining Solo at Edge Hill Arts Centre tomorrow (October 31). For tickets and more information, visit their website.