The Senior Theatre Resource Center

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Philly Senior Stage presents At Half Time

SEE PHILLY SENIOR STAGE

AT THE

SENIOR THEATRE USA FESTIVAL

Workshop:

THEATRE-MAKING IN A RETIREMENT COMMUNITY

Thursday, June 12 at 10AM

Robb Hutter, Artistic Director of Philly Senior Stage, will present a hands-on, experiential workshop to share the tried and true theatre techniques that he uses to teach creative drama to older adults in retirement communities. Participants will learn a concise four-minute physical and vocal warm-up and engage in exercises that include pantomime, improvisation, memory charting, readers theatre and storytelling. Attendees will discover a model for theatre making that they can apply to their own theatre companies or use as teaching artists.

Performances:

PRESENTING… THE SHANNONDELL ACTORS STUDIO!

Leaving their walkers, rockers and wheelchairs at home, this troupe of older actors from the Shannondell at Valley Forge Retirement Community has filled their 500-seat Shannondell Performing Arts Theater as well as having performed for other Pennsylvania retirement communities.

IMPROV: AN HOUR OF LAUGHTER AND MAYHEM

Friday, June 13, 7:30PM

Shannondell Actor’s Studio will present a fun filled clever hour of improvisation. You will never know if an actor blows their lines because there are no scripts! The audience provides ‘the who, the where, and the when.’ Don’t miss this spontaneous comic medium for senior actors. It’s an hour of laughter and mayhem! Let yourself go and come join the fun.

SENIOR SCINTILLATING SCENES

Saturday, June 14, 1:00PM

This is a compilation of vignettes that will have you roaring with laughter at the doctor’s punchlines in an old time burlesque, “Oh Doctor” (from Skits for Seniors: Humorous), and then crying in sympathy, as Rose and Charlie take in their critically ill grandson in “Old Aids” (from Roots&Branches.) You have never seen such a hilarious women’s over 65 basketball team as the Hogs, as they are berated by the coach in their efforts to beat the Little Sisters of Mercy in At Half Time. These are but a few of the scenes that will be presented for your afternoon enjoyment.

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For Late Bloomers and Baby Boomers…

Philly Senior Stage brings theatre workshops and the thrill of performance to older adults!

• We bring spirited theatre workshops to senior communities, professional and community theatres, colleges, and institutions.
• We create original theatre shows from the life experiences of our participants.
• We stage classical and contemporary plays using older adults as actors.
• We engage, involve, and build community.

OUR COURSES INCLUDE:

THE SPARK! Creative Acting!: Our signature starter course introducing participants to a variety of acting styles and dramatic techniques.

REMINISCENCE AND LIFE HISTORY: Exercises to help participants recall and tell stories – personal and fictional - from the heart.

IMPROVISATIONAL THEATRE: Theatre games and on-the-spot scenes to enliven the spirit and generate spontaneous play.

READERS THEATRE: Exploring the world of scripted plays for script-in-hand performances.

THE FIVE-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL: Release your imagination step by step through playwriting.

SCENE STUDY & STAGE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: An intermediate acting course for those hungry to rehearse scripted scenes and monologues.

THEATRE APPRECIATION: Read plays from the world contemporary theatre. Explore the wonders of dramatic literature!

Director, Robb Hutter, MFA, brings to Philly Senior Stage thirty years of professional experience as an actor, director and teacher. He was artistic director of Temple University’s Full Circle Intergenerational Theatre, an educational theatre company whose mission was to use theatre as a vehicle to help audiences explore issues of social and personal concern.

Robb specializes in devising original theatre pieces from the life experiences and stories of the people he teaches. Robb is passionate about creative theatre for older adults and helping them discover their innate creativity and talent, and explore their seasoned and playful spirits.

“Learning is a lifelong journey. One of my eighty-three year old students proclaimed, ‘I discovered I was an actress at age seventy-five! Good for me!’

Good for all of us.

Contact:

Click here to read our kudos!