OUR STORY
Our Voices is a seniors’ theatre creation project of Eramosa Eden, a charitable retreat centre located on Indian Trail, between Rockwood and Eden Mills.
Our Voices started in 2014 with a New Horizons for Seniors Project grant to create an empowering, educational and entertaining play about the current realities of life for seniors in southern Wellington County.
The play was the co-creation of a group of local seniors, with professional playwright and facilitator Catherine Frid. We met weekly for a storytelling circle, which Catherine transformed into scenes for an original play.
Our Voices started in 2014 with a New Horizons for Seniors Project grant to create an empowering, educational and entertaining play about the current realities of life for seniors in southern Wellington County.
The play was the co-creation of a group of local seniors, with professional playwright and facilitator Catherine Frid. We met weekly for a storytelling circle, which Catherine transformed into scenes for an original play.
We called our production Our Voices: Senior Selfies. It played, with the co-creators as actors, at the Eden Mills Community Hall in October 2014, to sold-out houses and standing ovations.
In 2015 we presented showcases of Our Voices: Senior Selfies, first at Rockmosa Hall in Rockwood at the request of Guelph-Eramosa Township, to celebrate seniors’ month in June, and then again in November as part of the Guelph Wellington Senior Association’s Christmas variety show.
In 2015 we presented showcases of Our Voices: Senior Selfies, first at Rockmosa Hall in Rockwood at the request of Guelph-Eramosa Township, to celebrate seniors’ month in June, and then again in November as part of the Guelph Wellington Senior Association’s Christmas variety show.
The script for this show has been published by ArtAge Publications in Oregon. A short video of the unique process Our Voices used to collaboratively create our work is on YouTube by searching “Our Voices: Senior Selfies” or by clicking the button below.
The Our Voices Canada 150 Production
For 2017, Our Voices has received funding from the Ontario Arts Council and Guelph Community Foundation to co-create and present an entirely new production about the many contributions of seniors to Canada’s past, present and future. It’s called Canada’s Seniors: Our Roots, Our Future.
The Guelph Little Theatre is donating costumes and props for this play, the Township of Guelph/Eramosa is donating photocopying, and Long and McQuade is supporting our sound equipment rental .
Our group of 16 includes some of the original Our Voices members, and new local seniors who want to be part of our Sesquicentennial project. As with our 2014 show, we are co-creating this play through weekly meetings at Eramosa Eden retreat centre, which started last April. Since 2014 we have grown from creation through storytelling only, to include a wide range of creation techniques including improvisation, poetry, writing, mask and clown.
Canada’s Seniors: Our Roots, Our Future, will be performed at the Eden Mills Community Hall on October 28 – 29, 2017. We will be sharing the proceeds from our performances with the Hall.
Canada’s Seniors: Our Roots, Our Future, will be performed at the Eden Mills Community Hall on October 28 – 29, 2017. We will be sharing the proceeds from our performances with the Hall.