Ever wonder what it would be like to be a centenarian?
Super Seniors, a new comedy by Kathryn Shaw, opens June 6th at PAL Studio Theatre presented by Western Gold Theatre, takes you to the Fairfield Residence to meet three women over the age of 105 who have differing responses to their extraordinarily long lives. Based on experience with her own aged family members, the writer brings insight and humour to the conundrum of extreme old age.
In the middle of the pandemic, when playwright Kathryn Shaw found herself newly retired, having spent 35 years as the Artistic Director at Studio 58, the Professional Theatre Training Program at Langara College, she used the time and space to explore new creative avenues.
This lead to her having an image of being in a room together with her grandmother and mother when they were all very old. Says Shaw, “My grandmother lived to 106, and my mother to 105. Given my DNA heritage I felt it was possible I could live equally long. Slowly the idea for Super Seniors emerged, a play about three very old unrelated women living in a seniors’ home – one character roughly modeled on my grandmother, one roughly modeled on my mother and the third my imagining what I would be like at 105. I wanted the play to be primarily a comedy, to focus on the here and now, day to day lives of three vibrant women with different responses to their extreme old age.“
Western Gold Theatre’s Artistic Director, Tanja Dixon Warren, saw in this play a perfect fit for the company. “First and foremost, I loved that Kathryn Shaw, an icon in Vancouver and Canadian theatre, had written her first play. I loved how she was finding a new creative voice. I loved how supporting this work tied directly to our mandate of supporting both senior and emerging artists (Kathryn is both!). It exemplifies our tag line ‘creativity has no expiry date’. I especially loved that it was laugh-out-loud funny – and the added bonus was that the people who wanted to be in it; direct it; design it – were people who I admire and trust and am a ‘super fan’ of. And finally – I loved the phrase ‘conundrum of extreme old age’ – it tickled me! Cos, in the end, isn’t that what life is – a real conundrum?”
Western Gold Theatre Main Stage presented the world premiere of Super Seniors Thursday, June 6 to 23, 2024 at PAL Studio Theatre, 8th Floor, 581 Cardero Street. Audiences are invited to come visit the Fairfield Residence and meet the lively residents, Mildred (Patti Allan), Hildy (Annabel Kershaw), and Elizabeth (Kathryn Shaw) and discover what it’s like to be alive and kicking when you’re well over 100!
For more show information, showtimes and tickets visit westerngoldtheatre.org