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The GeriActors and Friends is a company of intergenerational actors that is directed by Professor David Barnet of the University of Alberta. The GeriActors was a senior’s theatre group creating original theatre since 2001 in Edmonton. The GeriActors and Friends was created as a result of Barnet’s course Intergenerational Theatre 407/507, first offered in the fall 2006. The company is made up of two groups: university students and senior citizens. This thesis is an exploratory analysis of the GeriActors and Friends’ 2006/07 and 2007/08 seasons. Using these seasons as a case study, the theories of specific cultural theorists are used to analyze play and playfulness as it exists in the rehearsals and performances of the company. The analysis of playfulness is presented using autoethnographic research techniques that analyze the personal history of the researcher and a variety of qualitative methods which consider the two seasons of the community-based theatre company

Social stigma about sexuality across the life course is pervasive and deeply rooted in “Anglophone West” and patriarchal society that strives to police the sexuality of youth and older adults in diverse yet interconnected ways. Using an Intergenerational and Community-Based Applied Theatre approach to address common misconceptions about sexuality across the life course, I sought to offer a space to share lived experiences of youth and older adults with each other and their community. The community-based project created with the Victoria Target Theatre Society, Victoria High School, and Island Sexual Health Society offers insight into an avenue for social change based on the reactions from collaborators before and after the devising and performance process, in addition to audience responses. Furthermore, these findings can inform action in the form of policy change that aims to address systemic stigmatization of older adult and youth sexuality as well as the lack of education for healthcare providers to offer unbiased care and resources. / Graduate / 2021-04-08