Older people's company Performance Ensemble's new production Sinfonia at the heart of two-week takeover at Leeds Playhouse

“Everything is made in the moment with the group of people I am working with,” he says. “They are telling their own stories and sharing their personal reflections on life. They are all fantastic, beautiful people. Some of them I have known for only seven years and others for around forty years who I have worked with professionally many times. The ensemble is going to get better and better and they are certainly getting bolder in terms of the areas of their lives they are willing to explore.”

I was lucky enough to be in the rehearsal room last September, when the devising process for Sinfonia began, to watch a first run-through of what the group had created over the course of their first week working on the project. It was incredibly moving and profound in places, uplifting and funny in others – and it was already looking like a very powerful, coherent piece of theatre.

In the meantime, Lyddiard and the company have been developing it further. “From September onwards I was talking to individual performers, taking time to meet them regularly for coffee and getting to know more of their hidden stories. It is about building trust and developing a relationship.” Then in January the whole company, which now numbers around 30 people, came back together to continue constructing the show working with composer Nikola Kodjabashia and choreographer Tamara McLorg. Since March they have been rehearsing full-time, in preparation for the performances which begin on Thursday. Audiences can expect something quite unique.

“There is a lot of spectacle in these big pieces involving so many performers but at the same time, because of the nature of the stories, it is quite intimate,” says Lyddiard. “It is about the relationship between that intimacy and spectacle. This piece is also more political than any we have done before – people are thinking about the injustices in society, the calibre of politicians we have how, the lies, the fact that we have a war in Europe again and there is a call to protest, to make a stand against what they feel is unjust.” That is not surprising given that these performers are part of the generations who fought for civil, social and political rights. “Older people still have a lot to say on all these issues and we are making sure that their voices are heard,” says Lyddiard. “They want to be part of a movement for change.” Sinfonia is also about the joy that can be found in older age and the important difference that being creative can make in someone’s life. “The process of learning and developing our skills and creativity is what keeps us young and our brains active and agile,” says Lyddiard. “What is really inspiring is the number of people I have worked with over the past seven years who, when I first met them were down and isolated, and are now extraordinarily re-energised. People are restarting their lives.”

Now in his seventies, Lyddiard shows little sign of slowing down and is committed to continuing to develop and broaden the scope of the Performance Ensemble, a company of which he is rightly very proud. It has recently been awarded National Portfolio status by Arts Council England which means funding is guaranteed for the next three years. “It’s proved that we are an important company,” he says. “Our aim is to build a creative movement offering older people the opportunity to explore their creativity and help them to make meaningful contributions to society.”

Sinfonia is at Leeds Playhouse April 27, 28 & 29, May 2, 4 & 5 as part of 1001 Stories which runs April 24-May 6. Details leedsplayhouse.org.uk