Courtesy/PlayZoomers
ART News:
PlayZoomers, a live, online, non-profit theatre company will celebrate Older Americans Month 2023 by presenting their 94th play, ‘HUNKER DOWN’, a romantic comedy focusing on seniors struggling with social engagement during difficult times and then readjusting when times become less fraught.
According to the Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Community Living, the theme of OAM-2023 is “Aging Unbound”, which offers an opportunity to explore diverse aging experiences and discuss how communities can combat stereotypes. It seeks to promote flexible thinking about aging – and how everyone benefits when older adults remain engaged, independent, and included.
HUNKER DOWN will be shown live, online, three times:
- Friday, May 5 at 5:30 p.m.;
- Saturday, May 6 at 7:30 p.m.; and
- Sunday, May 7 at 1 p.m. (sponsored by Sage-ing International).
The live shows will be followed by Talkbacks with the playwright discussing insights from the play related to “Aging Unbound”.
They also plan to record one of the performances and create a video that can be licensed to Senior Centers, senior residences, etc. Screenings can be followed by live Talkbacks.
About the Play
In celebration of Older Americans Month 2023, PlayZoomers presents the romantic comedy, HUNKER DOWN, by Robert F. Benjamin, directed by Duchess Dale, and featuring Howard Raik and Carolyn Wickwire. In this hourlong, live, online play about seniors coping with loneliness, a spunky older woman clashes and banters with a crusty, whimsical curmudgeon. They experience isolation in May 2020 and then a year later, grapple with their changed reality and the need for engagement. Can social distancing spawn an unlikely, lasting friendship? Or more?
Watch this relatable play on Zoom and participate in the post-show Talkback, May 5, 6, & 7, 2023. Ticketing is on Eventbrite.
About PlayZoomers
PlayZoomers is a live, online, non-profit theatre company founded in 2020. We present seven performances (~22 plays) per year on Zoom – ranging from single, full-length plays to multiple short plays – all featuring professional theatre artists. In late 2023, we will celebrate the milestone of our 100th play!
PlayZoomers welcomes artists and audiences of all ages, genders, and backgrounds. Our dramas, comedies, and not-easily-categorized plays have wide-ranging themes: love, in all its permutations; human foibles; theatre tales; planning for the inevitable (death); noir mysteries; generations; holidays; and others. Productions include backgrounds, lighting, sound effects, music, video, props, and costumes.
PlayZoomers offers audiences an appealing and affordable way to connect with online theatre regardless of location, finances, weather, or mobility. Each online performance is given twice, on weekend evenings (and sometimes also on a weekend afternoon) to a national (U.S.) and international (English-speaking) audience. Live Talkbacks follow each performance. We offer captioning and are working on other accessibility accommodations. PlayZoomers
Seniors figure prominently in PlayZoomers, as the focus of a number of our plays, an integral part of our audience, and active participants in the company – Board members, producers, playwrights, directors, tech directors, actors, graphic designers, script readers, etc.