Target Theatre's Hearing Loss Play
Donation protected
The Victoria Target Theatre Society is a non-profit theatre troupe comprised of seniors (55+) whose mandate is to be a voice for older adults and the elderly by using drama as a teaching tool. This community theatre troupe is made up of senior volunteer actors who perform plays designed to entertain and educate the community on seniors’ issues.
We are seeking funds to develop a play on Hearing Loss with a purpose to increase awareness of the various physical, social, emotional and cognitive issues and challenges that arise from a hearing loss, as well as some of the common myths prevalent in society today. This play will portray various approaches to deal with many of the issues that surround a hearing loss.
Target Theatre has over a 20 year history of creating entertaining performances focused on educating lay and professional people about health, safety and quality of life for seniors. Over this period, plays have included topics on Alzheimer’s, prostate cancer, driving, organ donation, dating, caregiving and many more.
Audiences typically include seniors and their family members, health care professionals, caregivers, and students. Recent efforts have been underway to expand our audiences to include the community-at-large.
Venues in which we have performed include health care facilities, senior activity centres, senior residences, universities, schools and colleges, conferences, annual general meetings, professional development workshops, in-service training programs and community theatres.
“Hearing loss” has been identified not only as an issue that can affect a person at any age, but also a problem that affects a significant percent of seniors in particular. Hearing loss is the 3rd most prevalent chronic condition among older adults, with 1 in 5 adults and 47% of people 60-79 years of age having a hearing loss. The impact of a hearing loss is multi-faceted and complex. This invisible disability can cause misunderstandings and problems in relationships and take a physical (fatigue, strain), cognitive (slow information processing, misunderstandings, dementia) and emotional (irritability, depression) toll on the person with the hearing loss, as well as their families and care providers (frustration, misinterpretations such as mistaking responses for memory loss). It can also cause social withdrawal and isolation, including being vulnerable and at-risk when engaging in business dealings.
Very few people are aware of the range of issues that can impact the lives of a person with a hearing impairment and those with whom they interact. Understanding these issues, dispelling some common myths and creating “user-friendly” environments can be enhanced through the performance of plays.
During the past 4 months, our Target Theatre volunteers have invested a vast amount of time and energy in collecting data for the development of a play on hearing loss. This has included gathering up-to-date academic and medical information about hearing loss, as well as, conducting interviews with seniors who are hearing impaired, their family members and friends, care providers, service providers and audiologists. This approach will ground the play in both the medical and experiential content needed to develop a high quality play that will increase awareness by highlighting, exploring and informing audience members about these issues and ways to address them.
We are in need of $5,000 in funds to engage a professional playwright to use the research material and interview transcripts as a base from which to write an entertaining and educational research-based play on hearing loss. Then, the playwright will work with Target Theatre’s Director and the Target actors to stage the play. The play will be performed to senior groups, family and friends, health-care professional and service people with a goal of bringing the invisible disability of hearing loss out of the closet and into the open, so that we can all move towards better hearing and communication with family, friends, those in our community and service providers.
We are seeking funds to develop a play on Hearing Loss with a purpose to increase awareness of the various physical, social, emotional and cognitive issues and challenges that arise from a hearing loss, as well as some of the common myths prevalent in society today. This play will portray various approaches to deal with many of the issues that surround a hearing loss.
Target Theatre has over a 20 year history of creating entertaining performances focused on educating lay and professional people about health, safety and quality of life for seniors. Over this period, plays have included topics on Alzheimer’s, prostate cancer, driving, organ donation, dating, caregiving and many more.
Audiences typically include seniors and their family members, health care professionals, caregivers, and students. Recent efforts have been underway to expand our audiences to include the community-at-large.
Venues in which we have performed include health care facilities, senior activity centres, senior residences, universities, schools and colleges, conferences, annual general meetings, professional development workshops, in-service training programs and community theatres.
“Hearing loss” has been identified not only as an issue that can affect a person at any age, but also a problem that affects a significant percent of seniors in particular. Hearing loss is the 3rd most prevalent chronic condition among older adults, with 1 in 5 adults and 47% of people 60-79 years of age having a hearing loss. The impact of a hearing loss is multi-faceted and complex. This invisible disability can cause misunderstandings and problems in relationships and take a physical (fatigue, strain), cognitive (slow information processing, misunderstandings, dementia) and emotional (irritability, depression) toll on the person with the hearing loss, as well as their families and care providers (frustration, misinterpretations such as mistaking responses for memory loss). It can also cause social withdrawal and isolation, including being vulnerable and at-risk when engaging in business dealings.
Very few people are aware of the range of issues that can impact the lives of a person with a hearing impairment and those with whom they interact. Understanding these issues, dispelling some common myths and creating “user-friendly” environments can be enhanced through the performance of plays.
During the past 4 months, our Target Theatre volunteers have invested a vast amount of time and energy in collecting data for the development of a play on hearing loss. This has included gathering up-to-date academic and medical information about hearing loss, as well as, conducting interviews with seniors who are hearing impaired, their family members and friends, care providers, service providers and audiologists. This approach will ground the play in both the medical and experiential content needed to develop a high quality play that will increase awareness by highlighting, exploring and informing audience members about these issues and ways to address them.
We are in need of $5,000 in funds to engage a professional playwright to use the research material and interview transcripts as a base from which to write an entertaining and educational research-based play on hearing loss. Then, the playwright will work with Target Theatre’s Director and the Target actors to stage the play. The play will be performed to senior groups, family and friends, health-care professional and service people with a goal of bringing the invisible disability of hearing loss out of the closet and into the open, so that we can all move towards better hearing and communication with family, friends, those in our community and service providers.
Organizer
Wendy Merk
Organizer
Victoria, BC
