With real stories and true reflections about living as a senior in today’s fast-paced age, View from a Window is a touching and inspiring examination of issues around and about growing older.
On Oct. 12, Seniors Create Project brings their hard-hitting yet humorous show to the Chilliwack Cultural Centre that not only seniors will enjoy, but will be an eye-opening experience to people of every age.
“When did I become invisible? I walk down the mall, people bump into me, teenagers don’t acknowledge me, people cut in line in front of me. I never used to be invisible.” They were the words that sparked an idea in Marnie Perrin, the project lead of View from a Window.
They were the words her father-in-law spoke to her and it made her wonder what it was like to be a senior in today’s youth-oriented society. Perrin, with the support of the South Granville Seniors Centre, took her curiosity and turned it into a project that not only asked seniors for their stories, but also gives them a voice.
View from a Window is a piece verbatim theatre, which is a play that is constructed from the precise words spoken by people interviewed. In the case of View from a Window the words are taken from seniors about being a senior. The numerous interviews are then shaped into a four-character, play, and performed by professional actors whose lives it reflects.
“Because of being involved with this project, I see myself as young at 47 years old, I see seniors on the streets and on public transit like never before and generally I think of aging in a completely new way,” says Perrin. “It has been a great honour to work on this project and can’t wait to share the excitement of aging and wisdom with our tour.”
“As a senior performing artist myself,” says actor and project contributor Gina Stockdale. “I understand the vital role the arts play in a healthy life both personally and professionally as I face the challenges of leading a fulfilling and active life in my new role as elder in my community.”
It’s the personal approach that makes View from a Window sentimental, inspiring, and most of all thought provoking.
View from a Window is coming to the Chilliwack Cultural Centre on Oct. 12 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $35 for adults, $32 for seniors and $30 for youth, and can be purchased at the Centre Box Office, online at www.chilliwackculturalcentre.ca, or by calling 604-391-SHOW(7469).
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