Oh, hey! It’s been a minute. Well, actually, it’s been about 849,600 minutes since I last made a blog post, but who’s counting, right? The point is, I took a bit of an unofficial hiatus for personal reasons during the summer of 2017, but I’m back and better than ever! I come bearing more stories and thoughts and hands and cups to post and share with all of you. And because it’s the night before International Women’s Day 2019 (AKA the 2nd birthday of the Paper Cup Project), I have something a little different prepared to kick off a new era of Paper Cup.
In the fall of 2018, I had the opportunity to take an intergenerational theatre class which involved a group of several undergraduate (and one graduate!) drama students collaborating with an Edmonton based seniors’ theatre organization (The GeriActors!) in making original plays and vignettes based on lived experiences, thoughts, ideas, fairytales, fables, you name it. I learned very quickly that the class was not anything at all like what I had been anticipating. To be frank… Seniors are wild, y’all! I would often find myself shrieking with laughter and shock, not believing some of the things that came out of their mouths! After spending nearly 4 months sharing and creating with this group of people, the topics of our pieces ranging from aging and death, to growing up in the Netherlands during World War II, to modern day politics, to 80 year olds using dating apps, I learned a lot about the ways in which storytelling and performance can affect and support relationships between the most unsuspecting people (ie., my class of 20 somethings and a senior’s group of people ranging in age from early 60s to late 80s). I had an insatiable desire to learn more about the lives and experiences of my fellow artists, particularly the women of the GeriActors (affectionately called the Geris).
The class had a final project due at the end of the semester in December and had practically no stipulations other than the inclusion of some element of intergenerationality. I knew about 3 weeks after meeting the Geris that I wanted to expand on the Paper Cup Project and reboot it by sharing the stories and lives of a demographic that hasn’t been featured much on this page. Because I’m a 20-something old arts student, Paper Cup has prominently featured many people similar in age and in the same cultural/political/academic niche as me. Of course I’ve interviewed people outside of this group, but overall, I could use a little diversity when it comes to age! So I put out an open call to the women in the GeriActors to grab coffee with me and tell me about their lives, growing up as girls in a world I can barely imagine, and what it’s like living as senior aged women in the world today. I immediately received an enthusiastic response from many of the Geris, but due to time’s sake, could only pick a few to be included in my final project.
And so, with that lengthy but necessary backstory, I will present to all of you Paper-Cuppers in the coming days, some stories I had the wonderful chance to listen to firsthand from some amazing seniors, women, but above all; artists. As much as I am an advocate for young women/femme identifying folks being vocal and using their voices to effect change, I believe it’s important to listen to the women who have come before us and take what we need from their stories to strengthen our own. Take it from me, after hearing many older woman tell their life stories, I never once walked away bored, unsurprised, or without a tidbit of wisdom to pass on.
Thank you to everyone who’s been a supporter of Paper Cup since I first started and who’s still with me now! I promise I won’t disappoint you with the stories I have to share, and the stories that are still waiting to be told.
XO, Cass
PS. If you want to learn more about the GeriActors theatre organization, I’ve linked their website and Facebook page below!
GeriActors Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/GeriActors/
GeriActors Website:
https://geriactors.ca/
The Paper Cup Project 