The Social and Community Theater project named The Shining of the Ages is addressed to old people living in the Residential Care and Nursing Homes (RCNH) of Piedmont Region with the aim of fostering the communication among different ages and involving the community. The project is also intended for social and healthcare workers of RCNH, university students and citizens. It began in October 2004, when the methodology enhanced within the Master in Social and Community Theatre (SCT Centre | Unito) in Turin met the Danish ensemble Odin Teatret with its long-standing experience.
The Shining of the Ages
October 2004 – 2012
The Social and Community Theater project named The Shining of the Ages is addressed to old people living in the Residential Care and Nursing Homes (RCNH) of Piedmont Region with the aim of fostering the communication among different ages and involving the community. The project is also intended for social and healthcare workers of RCNH, university students and citizens. It began in October 2004, when the methodology enhanced within the Master in Social and Community Theatre (SCT Centre | Unito) in Turin met the Danish ensemble Odin Teatret with its long-standing experience.
The project goals are:
- to promote the well-being of the elderly patients from a physical, mental and social perspective
- to promote the RCNH integration within the city social structure
- to give the old age both a positive feature in the collective imagination and also an integrated facet in the life cycle as a whole
The project has been scientifically evaluated by the Medical School of the University of Turin, testing the methodology validity on the mental well-being of elderly.
The startup work was the experimental project Odin Teatret for the elderly living in Turin supported by the CRUT – Centro Regionale Universitario per il Teatro (Regional Theatre University Centre) ? and the participation of Teatro Stabile di Torino.
Promoting institutions. The Shining of the Ages has been promoted by the CRUT – Centro Regionale Universitario per il Teatro, with the scientific collaboration of the Master in Social and Community Theatre within the University of Turin, the sponsorship of the Piedmont Region, the Municipality of Turin and the Districts 5, 6 and 8.
The 2010/2011 and the 2011/2012 editions of the project have been also supported by the Fondazione Cassa di Risarmio di Torino (Savings Bank Turin Foundation).
Target audience. The project is addressed to the elderly, enrolled students, RCNH workers, young professionals in the field of social theatre, social workers and citizens all around the Piedmont regional area.
Methodology and format. The different local contexts have been involved in an active participation planning process, also in the startup of drafting the plan, with the aim of networking and giving the leading role, in this experience, to the local communities as well as to facilities for elderly, and improving the participation of people, groups and communities, associations, cooperatives and institutions, i.e. the “social capital? of these areas.
A specific significance has been given to the topic of the training on the job and in action for a few workers within the facilities for elderly and for the students of the Educational Sciences Faculty at the University of Turin, through an active internship. The workers training startup has the aim of providing the professionals, involved in the everyday work with the elderly, with an expertise they could use on the job beyond the project life span, in order to empower the facilities and give a long-lasting change to the crossed situation.
Performing events. The seven editions of The Shining of the Ages, followed by the workshop activities, havestarted off several theatrical events, which were performed on public stages as well as in other performing locations, both in common places of Turin area or in meaningful location for the local community. Thus aimed to facilitate an active and authentic welcome of the communities involved in the project, according to the methodology of Social and Community Theatre.
Quantitative results. Along the seven editions, the project involved in all:
- 7 facilities for elderly on the area of Piedmont Region: 6 were located in the municipality of Turin (5 Residential Homes and 1 Community Centre) and 1 in the municipality of Cuneo
- between 240 and 250 old people housed in the aforesaid facilities
- about 60 students from the Educational Sciences Faculty
- 12 students from the Master in Social and Community Theatre – University of Turin
- about 40 workers (healthcare workers, nurses, animators) in the facilities for elderly
- about 2.500citizens from the local communities – Piedmont Region (this survey results from the attendance registrations during the final performances)
- a network including 12 associations working in the local context
- about 70 volunteers from the local associations and institutions
Qualitative results. The project has been evaluated by Dr. Patrizia Massariello, in collaboration with the Faculty of Science in Nursing course within the ex-Faculty of Medical Science and Surgery of the University of Turin. We used the following assessment instruments: a multidimensional evaluation, distribution of semi-structured interviews and participation of volunteers in the workshops within the facilities. The data has been measured and compared and the interviews underwent the phenomenological analysis with the aim of understanding the kind of impact this whole project had on the life experience of the elderly hosted. The results were evaluated with the workshop actors-trainers, in order to appreciate their perspective as participant observers and experts in the theatrical techniques and in the purposes of social and community theatre. The scientific research and its results proved the efficiency of the suggested model and stressed the importance of having healthcare workers trained in the social theatre so that they could conceive and manage by themselves similar effective actions with the aim of improving elders well-being and community health.
