Seniors will have the opportunity to learn about getting on the stage

DEXTER — William Shakespeare wrote in “As You Like It,” “All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players.” We all get to express ourselves on the great stage of life, but some area seniors chose to express themselves on the stages of local community theaters. Twenty five percent of those participating in community theater are senior citizens, according to directors Patrick Myers and Gary Dorman.
Participating in the performing arts enhances physical, mental, social and emotional health, according to researcher and geriatrician Dr. Eugene Cohen in his groundbreaking work supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and done in the early part of this century. The research also found that the changing older brain becomes amazingly creative allowing older adults to engage in the arts more intensely than they may have been able to in earlier stages of life. Theater arts class experiences were found in later studies to improve word recall, verbal fluency, delayed recall and problem solving, skills we are all hoping to maintain as we age.
On Friday, March 3 at 1 p.m. at the Abbott Memorial Library in Dexter, local theater directors Gary Dorman, Corinna Community Theater, and Patrick Myers, the Center Theatre in Dover-Foxcroft, will speak about their experiences and the opportunities for seniors in their companies. Local senior actors Jayne Sharrow, Joni Slamm and Sherman Cookson will speak about what their work in community theater means to them. Attendees will view performances by guest actors.
Please call Liz Breault, librarian, at 924-7292 for more information about this free event.

Contributed photo
ON-STAGE SENIORS — Joni Slamm, left, and Jayne Sharrow will be among the speakers at a March 3 event, at 1 p.m. at the Abbott Memorial Library in Dexter, to help introduce area seniors to theater and the health benefits acting can provide.