By Rhonda Massad
Actor Lois Dellar has had the privilege of teaching seniors between the ages of 80 and 106 the art of theater acting for the past ten years.
After living in Vancouver for sixteen years, the native West Islander move back to Ile Perrot when her mother was ailing. Not finding as much acting work as she would have liked, Dellar began teaching adults and children her craft.
“I found my adult classes began being filled with more and more seniors,” Dellar told The Suburban in an interview, “it became easier for me to go to them than them to come to me.”
Dellar currently teaches at eight different seniors residences, with two shows per residence each year. Acting for Fun gives seniors a fun activity to look forward to each week. Dellar’s husband, James Milvain, writes the scripts for the shows and can also be found taking over a class when Dellar gets an acting job.
“In my classes we also do memory games and composition games and improvisation.” She explained. “It is great for my students’ memories and keeps them socially active. Plus we laugh a lot.”
Dellar feels every senior has a story. She has worked with many interesting people who include William Shatner’s sister Joy and Mordecai Richler’s nephews Bernard and Max.
“I also taught a Russian princess at one time,” she continued, “ I did not know she was a princess until I read her obituary.”
One thing is always for certain the class ends up laughing more at their mistakes than the scripts.
“We don’t do drama,only comedy, my students have enough drama. If they are not having fun I am not doing my job.”
Le Cambridge, located at 340 Hymus Blvd in Pointe-Claire, will be hosting a free show this coming June 7, at 3 p .m. Details can be had by emailing Lois Dellar at lois_dellar@hotmail.com .
