Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: senior citizen actors

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clelia
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Joined: 4/10/04
Location: United States
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Topic: senior citizen actors
Posted: 4/29/04 at 10:08pm

The majority of our CT volunteers are well over age 60. Finding plays to accommodate them is difficult. Any suggestions ?

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Gaafa
Celebrity

Joined: 3/21/04
Location: Australia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1181

Posted: 4/30/04 at 3:44am

I don?t know if this would help or not?
If you take a play, say like ?Our Town? & disregard the ages specified & modify it to suit your needs.
Others that come to mind are the comedy?s ?Last of the summer wine? & ?One foot in the grave?, both are BBC productions of old age British culture. Hereby the scripts of say 3 or 4 consecutive TV episodes, can be joined together as one production. With intervals inserted as required. I?m sure you would have simular TV productions, which maybe more suitable to your accents & local culture.
On the same lines, have a look at doing a programme of 2 or 3 1 Act plays, under a collective show title. You can make up a name to cover the occasion & possibly in line with a common thread or indicative of the genre of the different plays.
Otherwise I would suggest adapting the age requirements of any play, into the age brackets you have in the group, with a few tweaks & a bit of re-modeling of the play can work as well!.

G'donya & Chookas Celia

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Bets
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Joined: 2/02/04
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 0

Posted: 4/30/04 at 10:15am

Being a senior citizen myself, I understand your problem. I have directed several plays for a group of over 50s in my retirement community.

There is a senior theater website (http://www.seniortheatre.com/) that can give you some help. However I found that the plays listed there were not what my group likes--most were oriented around senior problems. We want to do less serious plays. I have found several light musical spoof types at the Pioneer Drama (http://www.pioneerdrama.com/). We have done Don't Say No to the USO and Westward, Whoa! I just saw Forty-five Minutes from Broadway last night by another senior group. Also by constantly searching, I have come up with a few more elsewhere.

There is the Senior Theater League (http://www.seniortheatreleague.org/) for help in other areas.

If I find a play that I would like to direct, I don't care about the character's ages. We just do it. If high school seniors can do characters that are older, why can't we do characters that are younger? After all, we've been there. Our audiences, drawn from our retirement community, total around 700 over 4 nights. We don't sell outside our community...yet.

I hope this helps. I have a lot more info, if you want more. Smile

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Doug
Celebrity

Joined: 2/03/04
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 119

Posted: 5/01/04 at 11:31am

We are in the same position. Try The Cemetary Club (**), Over the River and Through the Woods (***), On Golden Pond (***), Arsenic and Old Lace (***), Same Time Another Year (**) (note it is Another Year not Next Year), Waiting in the Wings (*), Foxfire (**) and The Kingfisher (*) to start with. I may be able to think of more.

I always wanted to cast Neil Simon's Chapter Two with older actors - I think it would work even better than the specified ages.

If you have one young girl who can sing try Valley Song.

Hope this helps

Doug

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reba77
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Joined: 4/22/04
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 0

Posted: 5/03/04 at 10:10am

I agree with Cemetery Club. Another good one that
uses three senior women is The Exact Center of the
Universe. In addition it has a part for a around 40's
man and a younger women.

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Author	Message
clelia Walk-On Joined: 4/10/04 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Topic: senior citizen actors Posted: 4/29/04 at 10:08pm
	The majority of our CT volunteers are well over age 60. Finding plays to accommodate them is difficult. Any suggestions ?

	IP Logged

Gaafa Celebrity Joined: 3/21/04 Location: Australia Online Status: Offline Posts: 1181	Posted: 4/30/04 at 3:44am
	I don?t know if this would help or not? If you take a play, say like ?Our Town? & disregard the ages specified & modify it to suit your needs. Others that come to mind are the comedy?s ?Last of the summer wine? & ?One foot in the grave?, both are BBC productions of old age British culture. Hereby the scripts of say 3 or 4 consecutive TV episodes, can be joined together as one production. With intervals inserted as required. I?m sure you would have simular TV productions, which maybe more suitable to your accents & local culture. On the same lines, have a look at doing a programme of 2 or 3 1 Act plays, under a collective show title. You can make up a name to cover the occasion & possibly in line with a common thread or indicative of the genre of the different plays. Otherwise I would suggest adapting the age requirements of any play, into the age brackets you have in the group, with a few tweaks & a bit of re-modeling of the play can work as well!. G'donya & Chookas Celia
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Bets Walk-On Joined: 2/02/04 Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 4/30/04 at 10:15am
	Being a senior citizen myself, I understand your problem. I have directed several plays for a group of over 50s in my retirement community. There is a senior theater website (http://www.seniortheatre.com/) that can give you some help. However I found that the plays listed there were not what my group likes--most were oriented around senior problems. We want to do less serious plays. I have found several light musical spoof types at the Pioneer Drama (http://www.pioneerdrama.com/). We have done Don't Say No to the USO and Westward, Whoa! I just saw Forty-five Minutes from Broadway last night by another senior group. Also by constantly searching, I have come up with a few more elsewhere. There is the Senior Theater League (http://www.seniortheatreleague.org/) for help in other areas. If I find a play that I would like to direct, I don't care about the character's ages. We just do it. If high school seniors can do characters that are older, why can't we do characters that are younger? After all, we've been there. Our audiences, drawn from our retirement community, total around 700 over 4 nights. We don't sell outside our community...yet. I hope this helps. I have a lot more info, if you want more.
	IP Logged

Doug Celebrity Joined: 2/03/04 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 119	Posted: 5/01/04 at 11:31am
	We are in the same position. Try The Cemetary Club (), Over the River and Through the Woods (), On Golden Pond (), Arsenic and Old Lace (), Same Time Another Year () (note it is Another Year not Next Year), Waiting in the Wings (), Foxfire (*) and The Kingfisher () to start with. I may be able to think of more. I always wanted to cast Neil Simon's Chapter Two with older actors - I think it would work even better than the specified ages. If you have one young girl who can sing try Valley Song. Hope this helps Doug
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reba77 Walk-On Joined: 4/22/04 Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Posted: 5/03/04 at 10:10am
	I agree with Cemetery Club. Another good one that uses three senior women is The Exact Center of the Universe. In addition it has a part for a around 40's man and a younger women.
	IP Logged

Topic: senior citizen actors( Topic Closed)