44 | NOVEMBER 21 • 2019 

Arts&Life

A

s they approach their 
70s and 80s, baby 
boomers should take 
the stage instead of taking a 
seat in a rocking chair. That’
s 
the take from lifelong thespian 
and playwright Laura Levine 
Gumina of Oak Park, who 
recently formed the Jewish 
Senior Theater Ensemble 
(JSTE). 
Members of the genera-
tion that refuse to be invisible 
will perform “
An Evening of 
Tragedy/Comedy” at 7:30 p.m. 
Wednesday, Dec. 18, at Jewish 
Senior Life’
s Anna and Myer 
Prentis Apartments, 15100 W
. 
10 Mile Road, Oak Park. 
The production includes 
a dramatized reading of The 
Invisible Man, written in 1897 
by H.G. Wells and adapted for 
the stage by Len Jenkin, along 
with some additional short-
scene sketches Gumina penned 
called Slices of Life.
For now, JSTE includes eight 
cast members. Though The 
Invisible Man has been cast, 
the theater troupe welcomes 
seniors 67 and older to rehearse 
and read and take on one of 
the many characters portrayed 
in the Slices of Life sketches. 
For details, contact Guimina at 
improvtalk@gmail.com. 

At 69, Gumina knows from 
her own experience and from 
concrete studies that loneliness 
in advanced age is physically 
and mentally unhealthy. Getting 
involved with group activities, 
such as participating in theater, 
can stave off heart disease and 
dementia, plus it can help shed 
the stigma of old age, she said.
“Boomers have never been 
the generation to sit quietly on 
the sidelines,
” Gumina said. 
“Now that we are seniors, we 
are still vital people. We have 
much wisdom, and when we 
work as an interdependent, 
supportive theater group, we 
improve our performance skills 
as we coach each other to bring 
our life experiences into our 

work on stage.
”
Gumina’
s foray into the 
theater began in adolescence 
at the Will-O-Way Apprentice 
and Repertory Theatre, a long-
gone company that was housed 
within an apple storehouse in 
Bloomfield Hills from 1942 
to 1982. There, Gumina per-
formed in You Can’
t Take It 
with You and A Midsummer 
Night’
s Dream, among oth-
ers. After studying theater at 
Northwestern and Wayne State 
universities, she spent decades 
directing dozens of youth and 
adult productions, mainly at 
the Trinity House Theater in 
Livonia. 
The later-in-life dating scene 
inspired her in 2017 to write 

How Old Is That Photo?, a one-
act play detailing the struggles, 
challenges and successes of 
a demographic not typically 
portrayed in the online dating 
community: seniors. It was 
performed at Trinity House in 
2017.
Gumina’
s longtime acting 
friend Rob Papineau, 68, of 
Livonia, plays Griffin, the sci-
entist who takes science a bit 
too far in The Invisible Man. 
He worked professionally as 
an actor doing dinner mystery 
theater and educational produc-
tions as well as a puppeteer.
“What I like about this sci-
ence fiction role is that it looks 
at an out-there science exper-
iment gone too far,
” Papineau 
said. “But, at the same time, it 
carries an underlying message 
about the impact far-out science 
has on a person who loses him-
self, and all of the rest of society 
is turned upside down.
”
He said older actors can 
bring something to the stage 
their younger counterparts 
cannot: life experience. This is 
harder to deliver for younger 
actors. 
“You know, we are not dying 
off at 55 anymore, right?” 
quipped Papineau. “We have so 
much life experience to bring to 
parts, such as joys, disappoint-
ments … I have loved working 
with other actors my age, whose 
experience on stage varies from 
expert to beginner. 
“But we all understand 
each other, and the program 
is tailored to the ability of the 
people. We may not do much 
physical acrobatics, but there 
is much depth we can reach in 
our acting, even when we are 
sitting.
” 

We have much wisdom and … 
we improve our performance 
skills as we coach each other to 
bring our life experiences into 
our work on stage.

— LAURA LEVINE GUMINA

Michele Stevenson, Yehudis 
Brea, Phil Berns, Eunice Kiefer, 
Joel Fabian and Laura Levine 
Gumina, seated

COURTESY LAURA LEVINE GUMINA

Experiences

Jewish Senior Theater Ensemble taps into older adults’
 vitality.

STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Life’s

