Wicked widows performance - From thesis to Theatre

Wicked Widows is a play written by Alan Hopgood and based on the Ph.D. thesis of Dr. Susan Feldman. During her research Dr Susan Feldman conducted over 80 qualitative interviews in group settings with women between the ages of 60 – 93 years. The narratives of these women were merged into three characters for the purpose of a theatrical performance by Alan Hopgood. Wicked Widows was launched in 2006 during Victoria’s Senior Citizen’s Week and since this time the play has been successfully touring around Victoria and seen by over 2000 people of all ages.

Widowhood is often misrepresented in the public arena through theatre, television and literature, as only a time of depression and negativity, thus reinforcing stereotypes about older women’s lives.The play portrays the real life experiences of older widowed women and through its three characters, not only highlighting the challenges that face them after the death of a spouse, but also their ability to deal with changing health and social circumstances. This performance achieves this with liveliness, positivity and humor. A forum is conducted following the play chaired by Dr Feldman, which gives audience members a chance to share their own experiences and reflect on the themes presented in the performance.

This play was chosen to be performed during the ERA 2009 conference as an example of how theatre provides an innovative methodological approach to disseminating research findings into the community. Theatre offers a more effective way of educating audiences about central life experiences by engaging them with the stories of real people, rather than through journal articles, power point presentations and statistics. Dramatic presentations have the power to trigger individual insights, new reflections and positive change. Theatre can also provide a safe and entertaining environment in which to promote important messages about the health and wellbeing of older people, especially as they face difficult life transitions. Such environments also provide older people with an opportunity to hear from others going through similar life experiences.

References:

Gray, R., Sinding, C., Ivonoffski, V., Finch, M., Hampson, A., & Greenberg, M. (2000) The use of research-based theatre in a project related to metastatic breast cancer. Health Expectations, 3, 137-144.

Rossiter, K., Kontos, P., Colantonio, a., Gilbert, J., Gray, J., & Keightley, M. (2008) Staging data: Theatre as a tool for analysis and knowledge transfer in health research.  Social Sciences & Medicine, 66, 130-146.

Shapiro, J., & Hung, L. (2003) All the world’s a stage: the use of theatrical performance in medical education. Medical Education, 37, 922-927.

These are some of the audience member’s responses to seeing Wicked Widows:

“It’s my life up there on the stage.”  Older woman 

“Now that he is gone I can read in bed. ”  Older woman

“Although I am very saddened and can not quite see my way out of it I know there is a future for me somewhere.”  Older man

“Widows’ clubs assist us with loneliness and now we have made great new friendships with other women just like you.” Older woman

“We men are wanting to die before our wives because what would we do without them – how could we live?”  Older man.