If you are over 75 years old, live in the Raval neighborhood of Barcelona and you like the theater but find it difficult to leave the house, you are in luck. Not only because you will be able to go to the theater again, but also because you will be able to do so accompanied by someone 30 years younger, who will pick you up and, after the performance, accompany you home.
The Grans teatrerus initiative, promoted by the Focus Group, wants to “combat the unwanted loneliness of the elderly”, says Pepe Zapata, corporate relations director of the stage group and one of the promoters of this project. La Vanguardia spoke with two couples, after Wednesday’s performance of Tot l’any can ser Nadal, which stars Joan Pera at the Romea theater.
“Last week, young people and old people met at the Goya theater to get to know each other, and Charo chose me,” explains Carmen, a student of Environmental Sciences and Geology, who is 22 years old and works in the summer as a camp monitor. “I wanted to expand volunteering also with older people. And the meeting between old and young was like a first date”, he jokes.
Charo, who is 88 years old, was born in Madrid, but has lived much of her life in Junta de Comerç, the street next to Romea. “I like the opera and the zarzuela – Charo explains – but I couldn’t go there whenever I wanted, because it’s very expensive. Now I am delighted and very grateful to be able to go to the theatre, and well accompanied”.
Rosario is also from Madrid and, like her friend Charo, also lives in the Raval. “I like flamenco – he declares – but the sight doesn’t help me much anymore”. Rosario is 93 and found out about the Grans teatrerus initiative thanks to the Escola de Salut del Raval, where the two friends do all kinds of activities.
His young partner, 21 years old, is Helena, a student of Art History at the UB faculty which is near Romea. “I found out about it from a professor at the university and, because I really like the theater, I signed up,” remembers Rosario’s partner.
Zapata explains that they contacted the Raval Public Health Board, coordinated by the Tot Raval Foundation, who proposed 25 elderly people. “This means that there is a continuous evaluation and so we can see how it has evolved – he continues -. And what better way to do this project than through the theater, with people who used to go there and now don’t. We noticed that there are young people who also have problems accessing the theatre, and in this way the idea has become not only a functional accompaniment, but an intergenerational meeting through the theatre”.
The project starts this year with 25 couples, in a pilot test that offers free tickets. “We thought there would be some mistrust and it was quite the opposite – points out Zapata-. If it proves to be effective, the project will be extended to other theaters in the city, both Focus and those that want to join.
“We held a couple of training sessions, to avoid ageism and for young people to know the reality of the Raval. And in January we will do parallel activities, so that they get to know the theaters and some company”. Zapata works with Eva García, an expert in community creation, who is the project’s coordinator.
At the end of the conversation, Charo with Carmen and Rosario with Helena looked at the programs to decide if the next play they were going to see would be Conqueridors al Goya, or Lali Symon al Romea.
