Life Stages Theatre
People who create theatre learn to listen deeply to the voices of others. Our Life Stages Theatre program is for high school students and older adults. This program builds community by bringing together people to share moments from their life stories, then to create new short plays grounded in those life experiences.
Our Summer 2026 program wrapped up in August, and we will be releasing our 2026-2027 program session dates soon.
How Does It Work?
The program has two “tracks” available for older adults; all high school participants are on the Writing track.
Participants on the Writing track learn basic playwriting, interviewing, and storytelling skills within a ten-session class. At the center of the class are inter-generational interviews, where each young person is paired with an older adult. Each pair interviews one another, using interview protocols developed with the influence of Storycorps and New York Theatre Workshop’s Mind the Gap program. Writers then draw on those interviews as source materials for fictional plays grounded in the life of their interview partners.
Participants on the Interview track are older adults who may not have the time or ability to commit to a ten-session program, or the interest to write a short play. They attend half of the program sessions, joining the creative community, taking part in intergenerational interviews, and giving the writers feedback during their drafting and revision processes.
Each program ends with a culminating public celebration, where the playwrights hear their scripts read aloud by professional actors for a local audience of friends and families.
Listening to the Voices of All Ages
Teens and older adults can feel ignored and disrespected within a culture that often emphasizes wealth, beauty, and individualism over wisdom, caring, and community. Arts education programs can have meaningful impacts on the mental health of people who take part, helping to reduce loneliness in young people and social isolation among older adults.
Just a few findings to share:
-Students who engage with the arts are 24% less likely to experience depression and 22% less likely to engage in substance use. (NJPAC, 2025)
– Post-COVID, as depression rates soared by 25% nationally, arts engagement has been demonstrated to reduce the effects of both loneliness and isolation as they pertain to depression. (Rodriguez et al, 2024)
-Arts activities involve ingredients that promote health in aging (not just the absence of illness), including opportunities for creative expression, cognitive stimulation, physical activity, and social interaction. (Rena et al 2023)
Miners Alley plans to continue and expand the Life Stages Theatre program to reach participants throughout our community in future years. We are currently seeking health partners to study the benefits of this intergenerational creative aging program and support its ongoing implementation. In our first two cohorts, we have reached 14 program participants directly; over 150 audience members have attended the three public readings.
A Welcoming Experience for All
The Life Stages Theatre program is one way Miners Alley makes a commitment to our belief that theatre is for everyone. We are building community, one connection at a time, by inviting and creating meaningful opportunities to communicate between generations.
The goals of the program are to teach writing and theatre skills and foster better communication and understanding between these two age groups. No previous playwriting or performance experience is necessary to take part.