Taking life to a new stage
- Source: Global Times
- [11:34 May 24 2010]
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An old woman rehearsing in Shanggang Residential Area. Photo: Courtesy of Twelve Neighbors
Play of emotions
Wang Shui, a full-time social worker at Twelve Neighbors Community Theatre, shares a similar opinion. "What these people need most is attention from others. They are always eager to be known, heard out and their experiences understood because they enjoy few occasions and opportunities to express their opinions."
Formed in 2009, Twelve Neighbors Community Theatre is a philanthropic organization focusing on the single, aged population of this city. The group strives to help people better understand the plight of the elderly by means of interactive dramas based on the true stories derived from the old peoples' lives. Members of this organization are full-time social workers, professionals and even college students who pitch in during their spare time.
"Whenever I hear that some lonely, aged person has passed away without being noticed for days, it saddens me. So what I really want to accomplish through this theater is to at least get the people to know each other and share their feelings with each other,"said Wang Junxiao, initiator and leader of the Twelve Neighbors Community Theatre. The plays are mostly performed in the Caojiadu and Baoshan Road Residential Areas in Jing'an and Zhabei districts.
This community theater works uniquely and is almost cathartic in character. Volunteers create plays around themes picked up from the lives of lonely old people. The stories are real so sometimes even the dramatic techniques are modified to bring in the realism: the person on whom the drama is based is asked to come on to the stage and reveal more, share his or her views or take questions from the audience. This expressive and open platform facilitates some intimate exchanges and the old people feel a lot better after the drama sessions are over.
The recurrent themes of the plays staged by the Twelve Neighbors are attempts at remarrying which are not supported by children, love affairs at the twilight age, the absence of busy children from family reunions and most commonly, the illnesses that plague the aged and how they cope without a support system.
