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Project/initiative|Portugal|Local

Senior theater project

Project title

Projeto teatro sénior

Description of initiative

Senior theater project began in January 2014, in a joint work between the social action sector and the culture sector of Silves municipality, in 4 locations: Silves, S.B. de Messines, Armação de Pêra, Tunes.
The aim is to provide theater workshops for elderly over 60+ years old to foster an active mind in a healthy body and promote active aging; to promote the practice of art to people who are not very familiar with the theater; to create a safe community where elderly can feel free of sharing ideas, their knowledge and implication for their performances; to foster the appreciation culture from the public's reaction after the performance. The idea of the project is to create autonomous groups of elderly that are willing to create theatrical moment by themselves and can go on the stage freely. Workshops are being done with the groups on their creativity, collective intelligence, group dynamic and inclusion, writing a text for a performance, healthy behaviours, etc.

Further information on the initiative

Themes: Culture and...

Community well-being
Mental health
Quality of social relations

Keywords

active aging, theater, empowerement, socialization, creative aging

Target group

Older people

Cultural field

Other | Theatre, opera

Timeframe

2014 - present

Results, benefits, impact and lessons learnt

Senior theater project in numbers: 2 sectors involved - Social Action and Culture, 4 theater groups; 70 stakeholders; 88 performances and 450 people in the public. A research project had been done along the development of the two years of the Senior theater project by the University of Algarve. The study focused on the relationship between two concepts: theater and active/creative aging. 7 outcomes have been described in the paper analysis: participation, mental health, socialization, cooperation-empathy, personal involvement, appreciation and recognition, overcoming. The attached paper is translated in English.

Organizer(s)

Ação Social da Câmara Municipal de Silves
Portugal
Public / State | Other