Senior citizens still sharing

love of theater

By: Annie Bruce

EVANSTON, Ill. — Seventy-three-year-old Lorelei Goldman started acting because it was like “being born in a trunk.” “It’s that old Judy Garland song,” Goldman said. “What it really means is it was part of my family’s legacy and culture to be in the theater.” Goldman has continued that legacy today as a psychodrama teacher and a member of the Still Acting Up! group – an acting group for senior citizens. Acting opportunities are popular among senior citizens, and the Chicago area provides multiple classes and groups that cater to this demographic. The acting organizations give senior citizens a chance to change their normal routine and create their own sense of community with fellow actors. “I think it gives a vitality and it’s life sustaining,” Goldman said. “We’ve become a community of friends. If someone is ill we follow up with them, and we become a family.” Linda Waite, professor of sociology at the University of Chicago and director of the Center on Aging, said she believes learning new skills when getting older improves the health of the brain and protects it from cognitive decline. Waite says that acting classes, or any social opportunities, benefit senior citizens by giving them an opportunity to expand their social networks. “Social networks are an important resource, because they provide advice and support,” Waite said. “You can rebuild or fill in your social network as you get older by doing something under your control.” Members of Still Acting Up! range from 66 to 88 years in age, and they rehearse and write their own shows at the Skokie Park District, Goldman said. Once the show is finished, the group travels to different locations to perform.

There are other acting opportunities available for senior citizens in Evanston. Tim Rhoze, the artistic director of the Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre, runs the Youth & Senior Theatre Ensemble Project, or YSTEP, and the PrimeTime Players Senior Drama Club.

YSTEP helps to unite both senior citizens and teenagers. The participants, usually 3-6 teenagers and 3-6 senior citizens, meet twice a week to describe their life experiences and write a one act play that they perform after the four week planning and rehearsal period. “The whole idea is to give the opportunity for these two generations to come together and see that they have a whole lot in common,” Rhoze said. “I think they gain a level of respect for people in their community.”

Rhoze is also in charge of the senior drama club. The group, made up of about 15-20 seniors, meets to read and analyze plays and play different acting games. “I’ve seen theater as a way to spin your imagination and extend your self-expression,” Rhoze said. “When people have more time on their hands, theater is certainly one of those areas they are interested in.” In Goldman’s case, theater has been a lifelong part of her life. Goldman began doing radio shows in Chicago when she was in high school, and her mother was an acting teacher. Today, Goldman is a certified practitioner of psychodrama – a method that involves role reversal.

Goldman planned to teach a psychodrama class for senior citizens at the Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre, but the class was cancelled because of the lack of interest. However, Goldman still teaches a psychodrama class, open to all ages, Monday nights at the Evanston West building of the Music Institute of Chicago.

“Senior theater has a script, but in psychodrama [people are] re-creating in the moment the story that a person brings to the experience,” Goldman said. Goldman emphasized the health benefits acting classes have on memory by describing the repetition that goes in to learning a script and choreography. “[It’s an] opportunity to get out of the old rut,” Goldman said.