By Sarah Wolper
Many senior citizens enjoy attending plays, and Larry and Marge Kruger are no different. For this retired Chapel Hill couple, a matinee at the UNC Center for Dramatic Art is a fun and convenient afternoon outing, as well as, more importantly, a constant reminder of their encroaching deaths.
“Margie and I saw Tuesdays With Morrie last month,” said Mr. Kruger, wheezing heavily after climbing the five stairs to the building. “It was great! Morrie’s graceful acceptance of his death was heartwarming. It also reminded me that, like Morrie, time’s running out for me, too. Death is inexorable, you know. There’s no escaping it. You can never know when it will get you, but I’m guessing it’ll get me soon. I’m nearly 90 and most of my friends have already gone anyway.”
Aside from the plays themselves, some elderly theatergoers appreciate the CDA for the quiet serenity of the adjacent graveyard, an ever-present symbol of their limited time remaining on this earth.
“Lovely place,” said another local, Harold Folstein, surveying the cemetery during a stroll before a play. “Very still, very calm; a good place for just thinking, you know?”
“Oh look!” added Folstein. “This man was just 82 when he died. Whaddaya know? Three years younger than I am. Really makes me realize that soon I’ll be food for the worms and decaying six feet under. Could be any day now. Yessiree, any day.”
John Belfour, a part-time student volunteer at the CDA, notes the value of theater to the elderly.
“They’re always so happy to be here,” said Belfour. “It’s great that senior citizens have a nice place to come for entertainment, instead of just sitting around all day thinking about death or something.”