English Information ·

English Information

On stage at an older age? Working artistically in a team with other older and old people – thus already involving at least two generations – or together with younger people and the young, creating performing theatre in a multi-generational way, conveys not only skills in expression, a wealth of experience and fun. It is also important and necessary at the societal level in order to be able so shape the future together, based on the wealth of experience and the relationship to the present which evolves out of this.

Engaging professional artists and community artists in collaboration with younger people and the young to encourage artistic-cultural activity at an old age in an active and autonomous manner does not aim to be a pacifying leisure activity for the elderly who are often perceived as becoming an increasing burden to society. On the contrary it is an important method of communication, taking into account feelings, attitudes, convictions, modes of behaviour, dogma and visions as well as giving room for change and questioning. This form of art-based, cultural expression is a crucial instrument for current and especially future humane interaction across the generations.

Freies Werkstatt Theater Köln

The Freies Werkstatt Theater Köln, established in 1977, is especially dedicated to creative theatre work. It is a professional theatre with its own productions on historical or current topics and performances of literary works. Beyond this, the staff members work with children, youth and adults. During all these years, the Freies Werkstatt Theater has created more than 100 theatre productions and has realized model projects and festivals about different themes. Meanwhile, the theatre has become a centre for international encounters.

Altentheater Freies Werkstatt Theater Köln

In 1979 the Freies Werkstatt Theater was the first theatre in western Germany to begin developing plays with older people. With more than 25 members aged 64 to 93, plays are developed under the artistic direction of Ingrid Berzau and Dieter Scholz. The productions reflect the current life as well as the personal history of the involved, for example turning the entry into retirement as an older and old person nowadays into topics and themes. All plays are put on in their own theatre in Cologne and also at national and international festivals.
The Freies Werkstatt Theater Köln has also developed a model for further and continuing education, in which the knowledge and skills necessary for successful senior citizens’ theatre work are passed on to people employed in the area of senior citizens’ work.

In 1999 the United Nations proclaimed the International Year of Senior Citizens with the motto “A Society for all Generations”. As one of the highlights the FWT presented the first World Senior Citizens’ Theatre Festival with the slogan “This is my life”. The Freies Werkstatt Theater brought together 18 theatre groups with more than 250 participants from Europe, Africa, Asia, North and South America in the Gürzenich, a popular conference centre in Cologne October 10 - 29, 1999. On the central stage of this “century festival” were performances of plays from, with and about people who have grown old in different countries of the world in the century closing the second millennium. Professional artists collaborated on the creation of all of the works.
The festival offered a unique combination of theatre-related events, with revues, dance, musical theatre and drama full of images. The life stories of Caribbean migrants in London and Malaccans in the Netherlands, the fate of Chinese orphans in Taiwan and the magic knowledge of ancient healing practices in Africa were all brought on stage. The festival looked back on the century coming to an end from English, Brazilian, German and American perspectives. It showed the current struggle between generations in Italy, a perspective on one’s own age in Poland, the Netherlands and Columbia and the entrepreneurial spirit of the so-called young old in Switzerland. A theatre group of older handicapped people from South Tyrol conveyed the feeling and lust for life of aging handicapped people.
The first World Seniors Theatre Festival, conceived and carried out by the Freies Werkstatt Theater Cologne, was one of the major events during the International Year of Seniors in Germany in 1999 and a pivotal event for seniors citizens’ culture of the future.

The film “The first World Seniors Theatre Festival “It’s my Life””

The film shows the variety of topics and the wide range of forms of presenting senior citizens’ theatre. It’s an interesting composition of various scenes from performances by the international theatre groups involved. Interviews with the actors, the directors and the stagers provide information on the motivation and backgrounds of acting in theatres. Startling camera footage captures the extraordinary, moving festival atmosphere in Cologne’s Gürzenich. It is a film about the idea and the practice of an independent form of art: senior citizens’ theatre.

The film can be obtained from the Freies Werkstatt Theater Köln.