The Ardenwoods Rocking Chair Readers are a staple of our retirement community. Twice a year the Ardenwoods community is graced with their wonderful collection of talents in the form of a live performance. This season, Rocking Chair Reader Director, Paul Bryant chose Greater Tuna as the spring performance. For those who aren’t familiar with the play, two men typically perform all 21 parts. In the Ardenwoods adaptation, eight Rocking Chair Readers divided up all 21 parts amongst themselves.
In the week leading up to the performance, Ardenwoods buzzed with excitement. Our wonderful Community Life Services Director, Kari Schrader, worked with the Rocking Chair Readers to build their set and secure props. Thanks to the NC Stage Company for allowing us to borrow their old-time microphone!
Beyond the Stage
To make the evening even more exciting, following the performance, our regular Friday evening wine and cheese was themed! Everything from the wine we served to the guacamole, chips and M&Ms, aligned with food mentioned throughout the performance. All of these touches of detail helped to bring the show to life even after the performance ended!
Bringing the Community Together
Everyone at Ardenwoods, whether a member of the Rocking Chair Readers or not looks forward to these performances throughout the year. We are so lucky to have such committed members of the Rocking Chair Readers. They met once a week for 6 months in order to prepare for Greater Tuna.
Elizabeth Peacock has been a part of the Rocking Chair Readers for 3 years. She says that her passion for the Rocking Chair Readers comes from her father’s love of reading aloud to her as a child. Now she gets to share her love of reading aloud with our entire community! She said that thanks to Paul Bryant, who leads the charge in choosing and adapting a script for the group, they are able to “build a cohesive group, and it really is a lot of fun.”
We can’t wait to see what the Rocking Chair Readers have in store for us in future!