Brooke Tillman, Theatre of Witness Response, Week 9

Chapter 2: Growing Old is Growing

Principles: Not Knowing , Take the Problem and Make it the Solution, and Fall in Love

The piece Years was not originally supposed to be a theatre piece but was born out of the beauty and necessity of a truth no one was speaking. Teya Sepinuck was a dancer and a mom. She was in the process of choreographing a dance that utilized sound clips of her son laughing and her 88-year-old grandfather discussing his memories. She found the audio sample more compelling than her dance. She was then inspired to create a piece from it, even though she had no prior theater experience. I her first theatre piece, she also used the first principle of "Not Knowing". She had never had this experience but was determined for it to succeed. She advertised for mature people to come and share their stories, and they did. From there, Teya worked with these mature people and realized the so-called "problem" of working with older people was really a solution. These older people are just as capable as anyone else, maybe even more so. For example, Abby Enders, who was 83 at the time of the performance, chopped wood with an axe onstage, as she does in daily life. She just had to figure out how to meet each person where they are at, which is about listening and empathizing.Through the process, Teya experience the tenth principle, falling in love with the work and the people involved. Her entire process was so unique, and I wonder how theatre can learn form her and continue to include performers of all ages. She wrote that she truly learned and loved so much from the process. She felt encouraged by the actors, especially Kate Wright, who was always there for her, and even at 91, was still performing. Kate said, "growing older is about growing", becoming better and more enriched.