Stage combat was one of the exciting workshops at the Senior Theatre Festival

The Senior Theatre USA Festival is over with great results, the weather is hot, and the next Senior Theatre conference is not yet here, so it's time to re-examine our goals. For us, summertime is the season for playreading. It's always a fun time of exploration. Time well spent in a hammock!

If you want to expand or begin a Senior Theatre program this fall, the warm days are are a great time for you to sit down and daydream about what you'd like to create. The hot afternoons are wonderful for snuggling in with several plays to find your next hit. Read shows, build a library. 

The slower pace is good. It helps us re-build our focus as it creates a space for reflection and projection. Renew your energy...fun is ahead!

Bonnie L. Vorenberg
ArtAge Senior Theatre Resource Center, President 

Senior Theatre sessions are hands-on activities!

• New Innovations in Senior Theatre
• Theatre: A Powerful Tool for Life
• New and Immerging Scholarship: Using Theatre to Address the Difficult Issues of Life
• Performing History: Translating Local and Regional History into Exciting Theatre for All Ages
• Workshop: Improvisation: Crowds + Chaos=Comedy and Life
• Performance: Performing New Works on Aging

See performances by the Unexpected Company Time and Time Again Players from Laramie, Wyoming which will present Fables, Foibles and Follies of Laramie City. In addition, Bob and Marsha Yowell will perform Montana Love Story: Painter Charles Marion Russell and his Wife, Nancy.

A special focus of the conference is on improvisation and we're featuring Joy Reilly, Alan Woods, and Ed Greenberg in a special extended session. 

The Senior Theatre sessions bring grass-roots practitioners together so it's always a great time to reconnect. You'll find it's a stimulating conference that promotes and expands your Senior Theatre experience!

For more information about the Senior Theatre Research & Performance Focus Group contact Focus Group Rep, Steven Pennell, at spennell@etal.uri.edu or call 401-277-5206.To learn about the convention, visit http://www.athe.org

The Family Caregiver Alliance invites applications from nonprofit organizations, government agencies and universities for the first annual Rosalinde Gilbert Innovations in Alzheimer's Disease Caregiving Legacy Awards. Three grants of $20,000 each will be given to recognize unique programs that address the needs of Alzheimer's caregivers. One award will be awarded in each of three categories:

• Creative Expression
• Diverse/Multicultural Communities
• Policy and Advocacy

It's time for playwrights to send us scripts for our 2009 catalog. We look for shows that have age appropriate roles which challenge older performers, yet are fun to perform. They can use either small or large casts. From readings to musicals, for the most amateur to the most professional performer, we offer something for everyone.

You can find detailed information about what we seek by reading our Writer's Guidelines and by consulting the TipSheet: What Playwrights Need to Know about Senior Theatre at the below link.

Please send your script in hard copy to: 

• ArtAge Senior Theatre Resource Center
• 7845 SW Capitol Hwy Ste 12 
• Portland OR 97219

Don't mess with these fellas from the Grecian Formula cast

The Unexpected Company Time and Time Again Players from Laramie Wyoming began in 2005 when nine seniors, spearheaded by Germaine St. John, decided to make Senior Theatre a ‘household name' in Laramie.

They did two shows each year in 2005 and in 2006. Then, in 2007, they began incorporating local history into their work with Founding Mothers...and Others. In May 2007, Fables, Foibles and Follies of Laramie City brought the history of Laramie, Wyoming from 1866-1899 to life. Last spring they created Grecian Formula, which was based on the musical Grease. All of the company's shows have sold out quickly.

A reception and/or refreshments are served either before or at intermission and the building is always decorated in a motif applicable to the story line of the play. In "Fables..." as the audience entered the facility, they entered into an old hotel dining room which set the stage for the production.

Performances are staged at the Alice Hardie Stevens Center, adjacent to the Laramie Plains Museum, a historic mansion in the heart of the City. Profits are donated to the Museum for its restoration. So far, the Unexpected Company has given $15,000+ to the cause.

On July 31, 2008, a condensed version of Fables, Foibles and Follies of Laramie City will be presented at the Senior Theatre Sessions in Denver.

Thanks to so many of you who are loving the new titles in our catalog. We appreciate your support. However, there are a few scripts that seem to be overlooked. We think you should take another look at:

• Truth in Advertising
• Mrs. Palsgraf's Dream Team
• Sand Dancing
• Boy Toy
• Combover

Choose any of these scripts and get FREE shipping on phone and fax orders. No e-commerce, sorry. Offer good until August 4, 2008. See what you are missing!