Heliopolis Elderly Center

At the Heliopolis Elderly Center, our senior theatre provides older adults with a unique opportunity to exhibit their acting and dramatic talents. For some, it's a chance to relive and rescue their skills from bygone days. For others, it's the opportunity of a lifetime to take center stage.

Created specifically for older adults, senior theatre incorporates techniques to accommodate their skills and abilities. Scripts highlight a majority of older characters in situations based on occurrences in seniors' lives. The plays involve a variety of genres, including follies, variety shows, dramas, and comedies.

"I woke up one morning and said, 'I want to teach the Heliopolis Seniors what I know about theatre and acting,'" recalls Milli, class founder, actress and drama teacher. "I have been studying acting and drama in education in Sao Paulo, Brazil, for the past 25 years, and I wanted to bring that to the Heliopolis community. In the first weeks of class, I worked with 12 older people, and I spent the whole week getting their life stories and transferring them into different ideas and drama projects. It was so beautiful and rewarding."

This was evident at our first Christmas play performance on December 18th, 2019 the Heliopolis Elderly center organized a special presentation for all center members called, A Day Back in School! Initially timid, the senior members slowly warmed up to the idea, partaking in not just comedy skits but the reading of scripts...where they had an opportunity to improvise their lines, using their body and voice. "The idea is not to push anybody to take part but give them time to enjoy the experience and the space to engage at their pace and readiness. The end result is always magical," Milli sums it up perfectly. "The kid in us is always there and our aim is to create a space where that kid comes out."

Thanks to these theatre workshops at the Heliopolis Elderly Center, age is no longer a limiting factor for many senior citizens. The golden years unlock many unexplored possibilities for them, and these classes have brought forth talents that have been lying low all these years.

We hope that thanks to your generous donations, more senior citizens experience the magic of theatre and the concept finds as much ground in Brazil as it has in other countries.