DTC Conducts Ingleside Playwriting Residency

Delaware Theatre Company's (DTC) education department, led by Director of Education and Community Engagement, Charles Conway, has been conducting a pilot playwriting residency at Ingleside Retirement Apartments in Wilmington. In an effort to promote productive aging, and based on the successful structure of DTC's own Delaware Young Playwrights Festival, Conway met with the residents once a week for a ten-week period to write, edit and perform original monologues. This program, conceived by Conway, was funded by a generous gift from the 1916 Foundation and assisted in coordination by Director of the Downs Cultural Center and Activities at Ingleside Retirement Apartments, Debbie Coates, and Ingleside's Resident Service Coordinator, Debbie Dalecki.

On Tuesday, May 8, at 7:00 pm in the Downs Cultural Arts Center, 14 residents shared their original memoir monologues with an audience of family, residents, community members and Ingleside staff, in a presentation entitled "Our Lives and Times: Stories We Want to Tell." Due to the overwhelming success of the program, Ingleside has graciously renewed the program for September of this coming year. With performance titles ranging from "My First Boyfriend" to "Round the World with the President," each performer's monologue represented a great deal of artistic integrity, as well as a great deal of heart. The opportunity to hone both the craft of playwriting and performance "educated, inspired, and strengthened our residents," according to Coates. In addition, the connections forged among fellow Ingleside members, staff, and community was invaluable.

As stated by Coates: "The program resulted in a greater confidence and an increased self-esteem among our residents, not only for those that participated in the playwriting workshop, but also for those that attended the performance. It proved that the marriage of Delaware Theatre Company [Education Department], and Ingleside residents is an uplifting combination in so many ways. It is such an encouragement to everyone to see our residents continue to engage in activities such as playwriting and performing on stage, and in many cases venturing out of their comfort zones. Throughout this process Conway proved to them, and also the audience, that life's opportunities should be embraced and that taking a chance at something new can be an exhilarating experience."

Visit http://www.inglesidehomes.org/downs.html for more information on the array of enrichment programs offered at Ingleside, all of which are free and open to all ages. Downs Cultural Enrichment Center at Ingleside is located at 1005 North Franklin Street, Wilmington, DE 19806.

For more information on DTC's educational programming and upcoming 2012-2013 Season, please visit: delawaretheatre.org.

Delaware Theatre Company, Delaware's premier professional theatre, is located at 200 Water Street, on Wilmington's Riverfront. Delaware Theatre Company is a member of the League of Resident Theatres, Theatre Communications Group, the Wilmington Arts Coalition, the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia, the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, the Arts & Business Council of Greater Philadelphia, the New Castle County Chamber of Commerce, and the Wilmington Convention & Visitors Bureau.