Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2012
Abstract
Addressing three current critical turns in gerontology, this article proposes the theatre as a fertile ground for various theoretical angles in age studies - including the performative on and off stage, the narrative in the script and the critical questioning of age and ageism in the multiple realities of performance. Beginning from a shared site in the theatre, researchers may be able to establish greater common ground, resulting not only in multi-disciplinary efforts but also in truly interdisciplinary work. With a foundation in performance studies, this article suggests promising directions for age studies and theatre scholarship by examining three aspects of theatrical production: a play script, Jan de Hartog’s popular The Fourposter (1951); a collaborative development of a script and production, Jeanette Mathewes Stevens’ 2010 senior drama ElderSpeak; and a performance, a 2011 song-and-dance revue staged by an established senior theatre troupe, the Sarasota Senior Theater
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.3384/ijal.1652-8670.1272a6
Rights Information
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Citation / Publisher Attribution
International Journal of Ageing and Later Life, v. 7, issue 2, p. 117-141
Scholar Commons Citation
Lipscomb, Valerie Barnes, "“The Play’s the Thing”: Theatre as a Scholarly Meeting Ground in Age Studies" (2012). English Sarasota Manatee Campus Faculty Publications. 8.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/eng_facpub_sm/8
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
