Can Theatre Help Us to Better Understand the Elderly?

Despite the regular way it ticks by, time doesn't always seem to move at a logical pace. Days blur gradually from one to the next, yet it can also feel like years have escaped in a sudden flash. This paradox of time is central to Sprat Theatre Company's One Day in the Life of Henri Shnuffle, which is currently transporting audiences to the experience of time for the elderly.

Sprat Theatre Company's mission is to create theatrical experiences where “elements of design are just as important as the text and live performance itself.” In this vein, audience members arrive to “Henri Shnuffle's apartment” on Bond Street off of Bowery and knock on the door to be let inside by a playful, but silent, young lady, played by Elizabeth Holliday. The apartment is a little too sparsely decorated, but what they do with lighting to alter each scene makes it feel like more than just a reclaimed empty showroom. When you arrive and sit around the apartment, Shnuffle, played by the expressive James Williams, is snoring in bed, while his 32-year-old cat, played by a dedicated Andy Jean Louis, is sprawled on the floor. The ghost of his younger self, played by Nicolas Cerkez, and another phantom, his dead wife, played with careful emotion by Kathy Richter, haunt the space as well. And once Shnuffle wakes up “in a state of nostalgia,” you follow his day of memories and slow movement.