What's more

★★★★
Financial Times

★★★★★
“Institute is a piece of physical and visual theatre capable of swallowing you whole”
Exeunt

★★★★★
“Overwhelming… one’s memories of the performance will stay forever.”
The Public Reviews

★★★★★
“Everything is faultlessly delivered.”
All Edinburgh Theatre

Read more

When the time comes, will anyone really care?

This feels to me like the right time to be asking this question. We are entering a time in which we are potentially more fractured and disconnected from one another than ever before. Are we losing our ability to read each other and therefore protect and care for one another? Alongside this, the notion of care has become a political currency, spoken about in the media every day. Institute is driven by Gecko’s desire to explore complexities in human nature; our impulse to care and our complete reliance on one another. We’ve created a very intimate, funny and revealing experience in Gecko's physical, honest and generous style. A world where everyone relies on someone to catch them!”

Amit Lahav,
Director of Institute and Artistic Director of Gecko

1. Try not to say “What can I do?” or “How can I help?” Those are too open-ended and it’s too easy to reply “Don’t worry, I’m fine.” What you can say is: “I’m coming over and I’m going to make dinner and I’m going to clean your kitchen, is that OK?”

Read more

2. Understand that the person who is ill is going to react in unexpected ways. Be supportive and understand, please, that sometimes, your support might be thrown in your face. Don’t be put off by different and varying reactions. Know that the person sometimes feels irrational and totally mad.

Read more

3. Cards with lots of writing and stories and things relating to you are lovely to receive and mean a lot. Cards with just a few words and a generic greeting are weird.

Read more

4. Post-surgery food: ask the person what they want to eat before you come. When I’m well I can eat all the chocolate in the world but after surgery all I wanted was melon. So just ask.

Read more

5. I personally like to go to all my appointments alone, it’s just easier for me, but it’s always nice to have the offer of a companion and to feel like you have that option if you want it. But you should never be forced to take people along. Friends keeping track of appointments means a lot to the person who is ill and a text in the morning to say good luck, or a phone call later on to see how it went, is always appreciated.

Read more