Discussion Events

Through our research process we have created a network of scientists who have fed into the development of this work. In collaboration with these research partners, we developed a number of contextual and discussion events to accompany the production at various stages of its development, to help our audiences get closer to the science behind Henry's story.

These events were generously supported by The Wellcome Trust.


The Man Behind The Brain
Edinburgh University, August 2011

The initial event was a pilot event, at the end of our Edinburgh Festival run, bringing together audiences with leading neuroscientists to explore deeper behind Henry's story. 
 
It took the form of a lecture followed by a period of Q&AHaving had the month of performances to advertise the event to our audiences, it engaged people from the local area, nationwide and overseas. Having attracted audiences from a variety of backgrounds during the Edinburgh Festival 2011, this event boasted people from the world of theatre and the arts generally, social care and science, as well as members of the general public. In this capacity, we were also able to attract audiences of varying age and social background, some who remarked after the presentation at the accessibility of this event.

This event featured:
Professor Richard Morris, Director of Edinburgh Neuroscience at the Centre for Cognitive and Neural Systems at the University of Edinburgh
Dr Jacopo Annese, Director of The Brain Observatory, University of California (via skype).

A video of the event can be found here.


What will you tell me now, Henry?
What will you tell the world next?
Traverse Theatre, March 2012

A second event developed our relationship with Prof.Morris, and brought Dr Thomas H Bak into an 'in conversation' event about Patient HM and his impact on contemporary thinking around memory.  

For this event we invited the audience at the Traverse Theatre to remain after the performance of the show. Usually the theatre would have a Q&A with just the performers and makers of the show but we were interested in putting the makers on stage with the scientists who were able to offer alternative perspectives. We were informed that this was the highest number attending any after-show talk at the theatre to date that year, averaging about 80-100 people.  

This event featured:
Professor Richard Morris, Director of Edinburgh Neuroscience at the Centre for Cognitive and Neural Systems at the University of Edinburgh
Dr Thomas H Bak, School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh. 

A video of the event can be found here.


Patient HM: Behind The Brain
Drum Theatre Plymouth, May 2012

A final event allowed a second audience to hear more from Dr Annese, in the format of a question and answer session that allowed us to get deeper into Dr Annese's work and the impact Patient HM has had upon it.  


We began this event with the already successful model of an over-Skype interview with Dr Annese.  We were also keen to engage local scientists and researchers - we therefore invited professors from the local university who came to talk about the science behind Henry’s condition before undertaking some interactive experiments looking at brain activity in relation to sound and music, currently being tested.   

This event featured: 
Dr Jacopo Annese, Director of The Brain Observatory, University of California (via skype).
Dr Thomas Wennekers, Centre for Robotic and Neural Systems (CRNS) and the Cognition Institute, University of Plymouth
plus interactive activities offered by students of the Centre for Robotic and Neural Systems (CRNS) and the Cognition Institute, University of Plymouth

A video of the event can be found here.


Memory Experiments
Oldenburgisches Staatstheater, June 2011

Additionally, while developing the work in Germany over Summer 2011, we also held a post-show event that allowed our audience to interact with some leading German neuroscientists across a range of tests and experiments that are regularly used with memory patients.  

Experiments included the star experiment which Henry was asked to complete on numerous occasions and taught us fundamentally that motor memory is located in a different part of the brain to other types of memory. For while he got increasingly better at the exercise each time he did it, he could not actually remember doing it before. The exercise involved drawing along the lines and points of a star but through a mirror. The audience were able to experience just how difficult that exercise can be!

In addition there were models of the brain and a small microtome where audiences could try their hand at dissecting a mouse brain.   

This event featured:
Professor Reto Weiler a neuroscience professor at the University of Oldenberg in Germany.

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