Janet Gibson PhD (she/her)

 

I am the founder and director of stAGEing. I delight in my work as a creative care artist and practitioner with elders and people living with dementia, both those who reside in aged care homes and those who live in their own residences. My academic research underpins my practical work: I hold a PhD in theatre and performance studies from Macquarie University, Sydney and I publish widely on dementia, narrative, and performance. I co-founded the Performance Health and Creative Care working group as part of the Australasian Drama Studies Association and  the Sydney Care Lab, which aims to think differently about care. I am also a member of the Arts Health Network NSW and ACT (AHNNA) . I received an AHNNA  mini mentorship in 2024; I was awarded a Randwick City Council Creative Community Grant in 2025 for my project 'Speaking Up, Speaking Out and Speaking Back: Dementia Voices from the Margins (LGBTQI/Disability/ Migrant)'.

 

I am a trained TimeSlips facilitator and have used this method with elders with dementia for over ten years. I work part-time as a drama therapist at a Sydney aged care facility, employing TimeSlips, Beautiful Questions and other modalities. I completed the Wicking Dementia Centre Understanding Dementia MOOC in 2023 and the Diploma of Neuro-Dramatic Play training with Professor Sue Jennings, UK. I am convinced that we all must play more, regardless of age. ‘Play’ and ‘storytelling’ are well-known diversions from life's difficulties. Theatre is now recognised as being able to assist people living with dementia by supporting their emotional, social and cognitive wellbeing.

 

I am also a trained actor (Uta Hagen, New York), having worked for many years in theatre, film and television, as well as having conducted drama, dance and improvisation groups for young offenders and women with drug and alcohol issues in refuges around Sydney, including Women’s Place and Detour House, both of which I helped set up.

 

My work is built on the principles exemplified in Creative Care (Anne Basting) and Care Aesthetics (James Thompson and The Care Lab Manchester).