Applied Theatre, Older Adults & Shame Resilience With Georgia Bowers (17-03-2022)

Georgia Bowers is an applied theatre practitioner, researcher and academic currently undertaking her PhD at the University of Portsmouth and her research is interested in learning about how theatre can be used to disrupt the established narratives around ageing, and the impact this may have on participants. Georgia speaks about the ways that applied theatre might be able to create shame resilience among older adults. Georgia’s interest in this area started from a summer job as an activities coordinator in a care home, which provoked her to address her pre-conceptions about working with older adults and instead open up and be inspired by the vibrance and energy of her collaborators. She then began to develop an applied theatre practice by setting up a theatre company within the care home which helped the collective of residents tell their stories, learn about each other and build community. Her research builds on these experiences and seeks to measure what difference theatre can make to adults over 65 who take part in a regular theatrical intervention.