Acting Our Age Creators
Lyndall Hare (Co-creator, Gerontologist) is a PhD gerontologist (Union University and Institute, Cincinnati) who has worked with elders in her native South Africa and elsewhere for over 40 years. She holds a Social Work degree from University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and her roles have included being a community organizer, case manager, advocate, coach, board member and consultant on projects related to aging, including her mentor/mentee program Living the Vision and the Acting Our Age series. She is the author of the book In the Belly of the Beast: South African Women’s Lives of Activism, Exile and Aging.
Steve Umberger (Co-creator, Director/Producer) has directed/produced 200+ stage and film/video projects for many companies. He has founded or co-developed four companies including directing/producing 100+ plays as Founder & Artistic Director of Charlotte Repertory Theatre (LORT). The Rep team included Tony Award, Academy Award, Emmy Award and Pulitzer Prize winning guest artists. Film/television includes An Appalachian Trilogy (co-writer/director), Call Me By My Name (director/writer) and Acting Our Age. He is Founder/Director of The Playworks Group LLC, and a member of Stage Directors & Choreographers Society and Actors' Equity.
From Lyndall Hare:
“I am in awe of the brave elders who have come forward to bare their souls in telling their life stories and describe how they have used their voices so powerfully during their rich lives. Multiple generations are now ‘meeting in retirement’ - and they have intriguing stories to tell you from several eras of American history. Acting Our Age has given its participants an opportunity to represent the many who have chosen to age with other elders in community.”
From Steve Umberger
“Acting Our Age has been one of the most fascinating experiences I’ve ever had. I had become interested in creating a kind of documentary work on stage I personally hadn’t seen, and I felt we were at a point as a country where the voices of long lives could help give some perspective. So it's been gratifying to work on this collage of humanity, quilted together from many months of work - and decades of real life. I hope that, seen from up close, it captures the essence of the participants, and from a distance, how they fit into the context of the history they helped to make. We reconnected with a spirit that helped build the country, and helped move it forward in every era (slowly sometimes, but always surely). The work has also allowed us to explore a new format, combining the best of both stage and documentary film. We are very grateful to everyone who has been involved for their commitment to the power of storytelling, and to Aldersgate and the residents for their visionary participation.”