Creativity: Into the Spotlight

For a self-described melancholic, James Harding, 59, has undergone a radical transformation since he joined the Masters Theatre Ensemble at Kilgore Junior College in Longview, Texas. This group of 12 people, all over the age of 50, studies acting and performs short plays for audiences of family and friends, who cheer them on enthusiastically. Melancholy is permitted only if a part requires it. "I've always been too introverted to mix really well," says the retired claims examiner for the Texas Workforce Commission.

"But when I read an article in the local paper about acting classes for adults, I remembered acting in high school plays--and that had been a happy time for me." He decided this was an opportunity to recapture some of that joy.

Within two months of starting class, Harding auditioned at the Longview Community Theatre, where he got the part of Buffalo Bill in Annie Get Your Gun. "I'm still a serious guy," he says, "but I'm having more fun than ever before. I get onstage, and I relax. Even my wife says she's seen a change in me."

Harding is one of thousands of seniors across the country who have ventured into theater as an arena of self-expression, therapy, social benefit--and sheer fun. According to Bonnie Vorenberg, author of Senior Theatre Connections, a resource guide, the number of senior performing groups has grown from 78 in 1999 (the first year she collected data) to 409 in 2002. And senior theater is getting a serious nod from the academic world. In August 2002, Ohio State University's department of theater served as host of the first International Senior Theatre Festival and Conference ever held in the U.S., and the university is considering offering a master's degree in senior theater. Meanwhile, at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV), 25 students are working toward a B.A. in senior theater--a major first offered just three years ago.

Most of the students in the UNLV program are over 50. One is retired home contractor Jack Winston, 68, who in his early 20s performed in off-Broadway plays. He gave up the actor's life when he married, had a family and needed a "real" job. After he retired and moved to Las Vegas, he started dabbling in local theater. Four years ago, he enrolled in classes at UNLV. "It's not only fun," he says, "but it's forcing me to use parts of myself that have lain dormant for years."

The upsurge of interest in senior theater stems from several factors, according to experts. "There is a larger population of people 50 and older," says Ann McDonough, director of gerontology and senior adult theater at UNLV. "These people are healthy and active and want to either return to something they did earlier in their lives or take up something that they always wanted to try."