pxp.tdf.org: Mind the Gap is a free, 10-session playwriting workshop for teenagers and senior citizens, created and run by the New York Theatre Workshop, with the goal of merging artists and communities through theater.
Now in its fourth year, “the Gap” pairs a half dozen students aged 60+, with an equal number aged 14-18. Members of each inter-generational, teen/senior citizen pair shares his or her life with the other. Each then writes a play inspired by the life of the other.
1 comment:
This story reminds me of the few points in my life when I have actually sat down with a senior citizen and talked to them about their life. Each time I am amazed by what I learn. In one of my US History courses in high school, I was asked to write a final paper based on the accounts of someone who had lived through an important event in American history. I ended up interviewing a 93-year-old friend of the family about her experiences on the home front in WWII. It was absolutely fascinating learning about her life and hearing her firsthand accounts of events that I had only read about in history books. Talking to someone from a completely different generation gives you a tiny glimpse into a life very similar and yet vastly different from your own, a fact which constantly amazes me each time I am asked to spend some community service hours in a senior center. I am sure that it is equally fascinating for an older person to hear about the world that young people live in today. What might seem a commonplace event to one person might be very moving and interesting to someone else. This “Mind the Gap” program sounds fascinating, and I would love to see some of the work that it produces. Now the real question is, why exactly is this the name of our class next year?
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