Thinking Ahead – Play It Again Theatre Troupe puts seniors’ wit and sharp storytelling center stage

The members of Lifelong’s Play It Again Theatre Troupe are once again preparing to take the stage for the upcoming holiday season, with performance dates set for December and a theme of “Relatives” that is sure to elicit chuckles and perhaps a tear or two from the audience.

Members of the theatre troupe for seniors over 60 years old met at Lifelong in downtown Ithaca on a recent afternoon for their first official run-through after finalizing their script, bringing to life the personal stories they have been crafting for months. They have just a few more rehearsals left before their upcoming shows at Library Place on Dec. 12 at 2 p.m. and Longview Dec. 19 at 2 p.m.

The Play It Again Theatre has existed at Lifelong in Ithaca for about 25 years, under different names in the past but with the same mission of bringing Ithaca’s seniors to the stage.

The group, which currently has eight members, was directed for many years by its founder, Sue Perlgut, but starting last year a new director, former Ithaca middle and high school drama teacher Susan Kaplan, came to the helm.

“So, the idea is choral theatre,” explained troupe member Dierdre Silverman, of Ithaca. “It’s stories from our lives, in which the individual tells the story, and the group acts as a chorus, helping to dramatize and add some visual aspects to the story.”

Some of the vignettes involve singing, including Silverman’s. Her story, brought to life with the help of the other actors, recounts the fruitless songwriting efforts of one of her family’s elders, complete with a rollicking rendition of one of his songs, “Comfort Me With Apples,” which was, unsurprisingly, not a hit. Many decades later, it does make for great comedic fodder that is likely to get a laugh. 

As each troupe member takes the stage to tell their story, supported by their peers with gestures and a few props implemented at just the right moments, they bring to life stories that are authentically their own because they wrote them. Each season, the group chooses a theme, and the members write a story based on that prompt.

“Everyone contributes,” Silverman said. “Susan’s role as the director is to pull things out of people. Someone might come in with a barebones story, and she pushes and pulls to see what’s really interesting here … It’s interesting to see how the stories evolve.”

This year, the players bring to life the theme “Relatives,” and at the end of the production they each rise from their chair to thank the one relative who was featured in their story.

For Silverman, who has been part of Play It Again Theatre for 10 years, the audience interaction after the shows is one of the best parts.

“People come up to us and tell us similar stories from their lives, and they’ll say ‘I haven’t thought about that in 50 years,’” she said. “Like in my story, I mention the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis comedy hour, and I know people are going to come up to me and say, ‘Oh, I remember that. It was really called the Colgate Comedy Hour.’ It’s kind of like a trip down memory lane.”

Marry Green-Garrett recently moved to Ithaca from Horseheads, having lived the 30 previous years in Alaska. (Her family is originally from New York state, and she has sisters and children who live in nearby regions.)

This is Green-Garrett’s first year with the troupe. She had never acted before joining Play It Again Theatre, but she said she is enjoying the group interactions and the opportunity “to be a little dramatic.”

“It’s fun to kind of step out of your comfort zone and put a little drama into your presentation,” she said.  

Green-Garrett originally began college as an English major and ended up earning her degree in sociology. She was pleasantly surprised and a little amazed at herself when, the night before the stories were due, she produced a rough draft that needed almost no workshopping, as it fit so well into the show. 

“I must have had a muse guiding me,” she said.

Green-Garrett is looking forward to the upcoming performances. “I have a large family, but only a few live in the area, so I’m looking forward to sharing it with my family because this is my first acting experience,” she said.

Director Kaplan said she is having a good time in her second season with Play It Again.

“I had seen the group previously when Sue Perlgut was in charge for years and just thought it was a lovely thing to have seniors, in particular, be able to share their humor and their wisdom with the community.”

She added that many members of the group have health challenges but do not let that slow them down, instead sharing their lives and the sense of humor that they use to help propel them forward through their days. 

“I think audiences are really touched by that,” Kaplan said.

For more information about Play It Again Theatre Troupe, visit tclifelong.org or call 607-273-1511.