About Spring Chickens

Big Telly has broken new ground with its innovative theatre work with older people. 

The Spring Chickens programme was inspired by Big Telly's hugely positive and energetic experience of working with older people in outreach workshops associated with its past professional productions. Since 2005 we have been running Intergenerational Outreach Programmes alongside our professional theatre shows, 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' in 2005, followed by 'The Country Boy' in 2007.  
 
The programmes have taken place in residential/care homes with post primary young people and isolated older people unable to visit the theatre, and have focussed on key themes contained in the productions. All the workshops have involved a lively exchange of perspectives and resulted in greater mutual understanding. The Country Boy focussed on the older people’s experience of emigration and the aspirations of the young people; The Well of the Saints examined the issues of disability and blindness and Puckoon explored different attitudes to and experiences of historical and political events.  
 
The Spring Chickens programme consists primarily of workshops, an intergenerational programme, and theatre performances. The programme was designed to be extremely flexible and cater for varying levels of commitment.  
 
During the first two years 2007 - 2009, 3,496 older people in 28 rural and urban geographical locations throughout N. Ireland experienced 517 artistic workshops, 25 professional theatre performances and 19 intergenerational workshops in a wide range of residential and care homes, sheltered  accommodation, health trust day care centres, community centres, church and council venues.  During this time, as part of the Strengthening Voices skill development programme, older people have been introduced by 25 arts facilitators to a total of 14 different art forms, including drama, magic, puppetry, carnival, mask making, storytelling, dance, multimedia, craft, poetry and creative writing. The age range of the older people that experienced the Spring Chickens programme is as follows, 50+ - 13%, 60+ - 20%, 70+ - 33.5%, 80+ - 28%, 90+ - 5%, 100+ - 0.5%.  
 

Spring Chickens Programme 2007 - 2009

Spring Chickens Programme 2010 - 2013