Senior stars give theater program a standing ovation

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Taffy Speilman, a 73-year-old self-described “ham,” stumbles around a stage at the Saline County, Kan. Senior Center, ad-libbing as a drunk wife to a sold-out performance of “Shenanigans at the Blue Pelican Inn.” 

The production is one of the many comedies that has been produced by the Saline County Senior Center theater group. 

“I’m not a professional actor, I guess I just like to make a fool out of myself,” Speilman said, with a laugh. 

“To hear people laugh was the most memorable part — that will always be in my mind.”

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Saline County, Kan., won a 2024 NACo Achievement Award for the senior theater program in the Arts, Culture and Historic Preservation category.

Some seniors in the group had never put on a performance before. 

Others, like Speilman, hadn’t been on a stage since high school. 

“I’m one of these people who just love to be in the theater, and all my mature life, I never had a chance to do it until I came to Salina and they had this senior theater project,” Speilman said. 

“And I thought, ‘This is my opportunity’ — even at the age that I’m at — to do some performing and I love comedy.

“It just drew me to something I’d always wanted to do.”

The senior theater group performs comedies, which have included “The Feeble Fables” and “Mernie’s Little Hoax,” and also puts on an annual talent show in which members show off their skills, including singing, dancing, playing instruments or even reciting a poem. 

“The director realized there was something in letting them be silly,” said Rosie Walter, Saline County Senior Services’ director. “The comedies are a huge hit.”

The first production, which was held at the county’s senior center, was so widely attended that they had to start turning people away. 

The audience was made up of family, friends and co-workers of the participating seniors, along with many community members who otherwise had no connection to the group, which was a nice surprise, Walter said. 

“We had to lock the doors and not let anyone else in,” Walter said. 

“We just had too many people.”

The center developed a ticketing system for later performances to better gauge audience size, charging attendees $8 to $10, the proceeds of which go to the senior center and its Meals on Wheels program. 

The theater group is on pause currently but will resume practices and performances when it finds a new director, according to Walter.  

Actors audition for specific parts, but everyone who wants to participate can get involved in the productions in some way. 

One senior has trouble speaking because of throat cancer, so he played the role of a tree. His entire family came to see him perform. 

Some members prefer to do more behind-the-scenes work and contribute to stage design and the sound system or making costumes.

Speilman didn’t know anyone in the theater group when she first joined but has since developed numerous close friendships through the project and said the camaraderie among the group is her favorite part of being involved. 

The plays have made seniors feel like they’re a part of something, and Walter said she’s observed that they’ve become more confident and developed a sense of purpose since the project started.

“Seniors are not always recognized, and I think a lot of the time that they’re overlooked,”’ Walter said. 

“But they still have a lot of talent to give, and this showcases that.”

At 73, Speilman didn’t think she had any more opportunities to perform in front of a crowd. 

The theater group has provided her, and other Saline County seniors, with an outlet to have fun, and also feel more connected to the community, she said. 

“When you’re taking your bow and the audience is standing up, giving you a standing ovation,” Speilman said. 

“That is one thing that I never, ever expected to happen, so that’s amazing.”