Theatre Arts for the Senior Community · NYC & Regional

The Magic of
Live Theatre

A connection-based workshop designed to bring seniors together to reflect, create, and explore the Magic of Live Theatre.

Create
Inspire
Perform
Our 6-Week Program Book a Workshop
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Who We Are

Led by a working professional with 25+ years on stage and screen

Sage Stage Productions was founded by Carolyn Driscoll, a proud member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA. Carolyn has worked steadily in New York City and regionally for over 25 years, bringing professional-grade artistry to every community she serves.

She has designed conflict resolution and anti-bullying programs for Urban Youth Through Theatre Arts, partnering with BOCES, The Black Spectrum Theater, and Creative Connections.

Carolyn has worked with the Union Square Theater, The Roundabout, Hudson Guild Theater in New York and the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank. As an accomplished actor, she appeared in NYPD Blue, As the World Turns, Another World, and All My Children.

NYPD Blue
As the World Turns
Another World
All My Children
The Roundabout
Count Basie Theatre
Sage Stage Productions workshop group

"A connection-based workshop designed to bring seniors together to reflect, create, and explore the Magic of Live Theatre — giving each participant ownership and agency in the creative process."

— Carolyn Driscoll, Founder

The Program

Six weeks. One unforgettable performance.

Our six-week workshop takes participants from introduction all the way to a live performance before an invited audience of friends, family, and staff. No experience necessary — only a willingness to try something new outside your comfort zone.

01
Introduction
  • Meet participants, evaluate level of experience
  • Establish objectives and overview the program
  • Acting warm-ups and interactive games
02
Getting Started
  • Games that stimulate creativity, locomotion and memory
  • Concept discussion: range, emotion, cohesiveness
  • Work through scenes and evaluate acting skills
03
The Play Is the Thing
  • Introduce the performance piece you've created
  • Hold auditions to experience the casting process
  • Block and outline the script
04
Practice, Practice, Practice
  • Drills and activities to build range, improvisation and storytelling
  • Block and rehearse the performance piece
  • Address individual needs to build confidence
05
No Second Guessing
  • Full run-through of performance
  • Director's notes; players encouraged to ad lib and personalize
  • All doubts addressed — no second guessing allowed
06
Show Time!
  • Live performance before an invited audience of friends, family, and staff
  • Final bow
  • Reception with refreshments to celebrate the company
Sage Stage workshop in session
Atrium Players performance
Sage Stage performance on stage
In the Press

Real stories from real communities

The Atrium Players theatre troupe recently worked with Sage Stage Productions to present Fall Stories: Autumn Café Theatre Collections, a collection of live comedic short stories and vignettes performed at Atrium's Performing Arts Center in front of an appreciative audience of fellow residents, friends, and family.

Residents, some with professional acting expertise and others who had never performed before, rehearsed for eight weeks under the direction of Carolyn Driscoll.

"Atrium's actors are the most diverse, talented and inspirational group of performers who easily reinvent themselves each day by slipping into character."
— Carolyn Driscoll

To reduce the pressure of memorizing pages of dialogue, actors are welcome to use their scripts during the performance so they can focus on their craft.

"Acting is not a hobby I thought I would ever try, but I'm hooked."
— Frank Spexarth, Atrium resident

— Atrium Community Newsletter, November 2019

Featured Quote

"My children couldn't believe it when I told them I was acting in a play. But that's what retirement is designed for — trying new things outside your comfort zone."

— Frank Spexarth, Former Engineer & Applewood Resident

"Carolyn has us more organized and we're able to react quickly to her direction."

— Frank Spexarth

Expert Voices

Transformative by design

Carolyn Driscoll and SAGE Productions has been doing humane and artistically vibrant work with seniors. The mission and approach of her much-loved organization is cutting edge in its understanding of wellness and long-term care.

— Ron Marasco, Ph.D., Professor of Theatre & Author

The work Carolyn does is not only empathic and community-building — it is as demonstrably transformative as any work I have ever seen done with seniors, and at a high of aesthetic excellence that is rare for such programs.

— Ron Marasco, Ph.D.

Sage Stage takes seriously each senior's vision, talents, passions, idiosyncrasies, vulnerabilities, and energies. It is a creative process focused on the individual in a way that is exceptional compared with most senior-centric theatrical approaches.

— Ron Marasco, Ph.D.

Carolyn Driscoll and SAGE Productions have honed a clinically astute and highly creative methodology that has brought blossoming to countless senior clients — raising the curtain on seniors who are, in the words of Alan Bergman, "Just Getting Started!"

— Ron Marasco, Ph.D., Author of About Grief

Participant Voices

In their own words

"My family came all the way from Connecticut to see ME do something I am PROUD of! Life doesn't stop when you're 90, or 80, or 70, or 60."

— Eve B.

"This workshop lets us work within our limitations, and exceed our limits everywhere else."

— Gladys M.

"By the end of the 6-week workshop, each individual has evolved — laughter, sometimes tears, sharing and rehearsing. Friendships have been made during rehearsal that are thicker than some friendships I have had for over 60 years."

— Marion A.

"Life doesn't end when the body slows down — it ends when the spirit fails. As long as you have one thing you're passionate about and you chase it, you WILL LIVE with LIFE."

— Sherry S.

"I cannot imagine NOT having the Sage Program. Carolyn encouraged me to write about an experience I never thought I'd be brave enough to share. This has been both cathartic and inspiring. I am a better version of me."

— Charlie C.

"Acting is not a hobby I thought I would ever try, but I'm hooked."

— Frank Spexarth, Applewood

Get in Touch

Bring Sage Stage to your community

Whether you run a senior living facility, community center, or arts program — we'd love to talk about how theatre can transform your residents' lives.

📞
Phone
+1 917 353 3238
✉️
Email
sagestageproductions@gmail.com
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Service Area
New York City & Regional
About Carolyn Driscoll

AEA & SAG-AFTRA member · 25+ years NYC & regional · Appeared in NYPD Blue, As the World Turns, Another World, All My Children · Union Square Theater, The Roundabout, Hudson Guild Theater, Count Basie Theatre