Senior cohousing projects – housing solutions designed to enable older people to live together in homes or communities adapted to their needs – have in recent years attracted growing interest, and not only among the elderly. Increasingly, younger generations keep talking about spending old age with friends, living in supportive communities, and – perhaps most importantly – leaving behind the fear of loneliness. Television has already conceived series on the subject (such as Netflix’s record-breaking Grace and Frankie), and examples of such projects have even been implemented in Poland (look up the senior cohousing initiative in Rybnik!). Now, the subject has found its way to the stage thanks to Michał Buszewicz who has cast the oldest generation of actors from Szczecin’s Teatr Współczesny in The Boisterous Retirement Home, to create a story about a utopia that just may come true.

The main character, Helena (Beata Zygarlicka), opens the performance by wondering: “Has it come already?” – has old age arrived, and is it time to take action and finally start the communal home project she and her circle of friends have dreamt of for years? Together, they decide that yes – the time has come. What follows is a journey through organisational challenges and the occasional clash of temperaments. Yet Buszewicz’s production is about more than just cohousing. It also opens space for reflection on the sexuality of older people, their relationships with family, and the constant presence of death that accompanies the residents of the shared home. The performance was developed with the help of “experience experts” – in this case, seniors from Szczecin – who took part in the consultation process. The Boisterous Retirement Home reached the finals of the 31st National Competition for the Staging of Contemporary Polish Plays, where Michał Dobrucki received a special mention for set design.

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This play features cigarette smoking, strobe lights, and stage haze. It also contains a scene of nudity.

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Photo by Piotr Nykowski