Age is just a number for Montgomery Haven Performers
Montgomery Haven Retirement Village celebrates that they have residents who still have that joie de vivre, and want to share it with those frailer than them.
The stage doesn’t know age, it just knows entertainment. For a few locals of Montgomery Haven Retirement Village, this is what they aim to do, as they take centre stage in hopes of bringing smiles to fellow residents.
Read more: Montgomery Haven Performers share their talent with residents
Lead by Kevin Feather, the Montgomery Haven Performers is a group of seven residents who perform various productions throughout the year. They recently performed the Zimmer Frame Ballet, which their audience lapped up.
Feather is no stranger to performance, starting playing the piano when he was five-years-old, which led him to a fruitful career as a musician. In later years, he branched out into writing and directing, doing everything he could do that people were prepared to buy into. With four decades in the business, it was hard for him to retire from his love of the arts, so, he made sure to introduce that love to the residents of the retirement village. “I told people here: ‘Once a performer, always a performer’, and this is so true of me. I wanted to do what I could here, and that’s play the piano, host soirees, as well write and direct pantomimes at the end of the year.”
Through Feather’s efforts, they have held quite a few pantomimes, including last year’s Sleeping Beauty, as well as Cinderella, which was hosted two years ago. Lorna Somers, manager of the retirement village, compared their pantomimes to a Janice Honeyman type of production, which includes Feather finding a way to make fun of the village locals. “The characters are thinly disguised staff and residents,” she jokingly said.
Louw Pienaar, who is part of the Haven Performers, was a banker by profession, so, he would not have described himself as a performer, at least until he was encouraged to join. The recent performance of the Zimmer Frame Ballet was, so far, one of Pienaar’s best things to have been part of. “I thought: While I can. With so many people that can’t perform, why not join? After we performed the Zimmer Frame Ballet [for the care centre], they put music on and danced along with us. We loved that.”
Christa Du Toit, who only recently moved to the retirement village, has found being part of the group lots of fun. “Also, having been in medicine for over 40 years, and seeing what we mean to those frailer, just makes clear the joy we bring.” She loves that you don’t need to be young to be part of the arts. Her children were surprised to hear that she’d joined the group, but they appreciated how she had quickly become part of her new community. “They say I could have easily decided to just sit in my cottage and not mingle with others.” Du Toit expressed how it is not wasted on them how they can still walk, dance, and play around as they entertain the sick.
When she was younger, fellow performer and former English lecturer Kathy Mabin sung in choirs, but she never quite pictured herself a performer. This experience it has meant a lot to her, especially that she can aid in the happiness of others.
Dawn Jacobs has never minded getting up to make a fool of herself in front of others. It’s a character trait she loves about herself. “I’m one of those people who doesn’t really bother about what others have to say about them.” Though she does admit loving being on her own, she equally loves taking care of, and being around, people.
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