Savor Evanston’s Eighth Ward event features senior performers

Performers and directors take a bow. Pictured left to right, Sue Woldenberg, Gloria St. John, Lilo Seyberth-Shea, Olivia Catayong, Cynthia Kirk and Jeanette Gordon. Credit: Heidi Randhava

Northlight Theatre held its Eighth Ward Savor Evanston event from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Levy Senior Center. Northlight partnered with the Levy Senior Center Foundation to host the gathering in the Levy courtyard, where bountiful perennial flowers surround patio seating.

Guests enjoy Savor Evanston, held in the courtyard at Levy Senior Center. Credit: Heidi Randhava

The event kicked off with time to mingle and enjoy appetizers and drinks, followed by a brief preview of the upcoming season presented by Northlight Associate Artistic Director Georgette Verdin. “The reason we’re doing these events in every ward in Evanston,” Verdin said, “is to make sure all of Evanston is engaged in the new Northlight Theatre.”

Northlight’s 2026-2027 lineup includes: The Front Page: Sept. 9 to Oct. 18, 2026; All the World (world premiere): Nov. 11 to Dec. 20, 2026; The American Five: Feb. 3 to March 3, 2027; Here There Are Blueberries: April 7 to May 16, 2027; and Pearl’s in the House: June 7 to July 18, 2027.

Each Savor Evanston event is different, but they all aim to broaden Northlight’s reach in Evanston ahead of the theater’s reopening in September. The Levy Center gathering featured a presentation from the Intergenerational Theatre Workshop, directed by Levy Center student interns Olivia Catayong and Lilo Seyberth-Shea, both ETHS theater alumni who are continuing their love of theater in college.

Intergenerational Theatre Workshop directors, Levy Center student interns Lilo Seyberth-Shea, at left, and Olivia Catayong. Credit: Heidi Randhava

“We do scene studies from different plays chosen by the participating seniors here at the Levy Center,” said Seyberth-Shea, adding, “Today, we’re doing monologues from the plays, and one original story. It’s going to be really fun.”

Jeanette Gordon presented her monologue, Patterns, a poem by Amy Lowell. “It’s a poem, but it reads more like a theatrical piece,” said Gordon.

Sue Woldenberg followed with a performance of her original story, called In The Middle of The Night. Cynthia Kirk next performed a monologue of the character ‘Pope Joan’ from the play Top Girls, written by Caryl Churchill. The final performer was Gloria St. John, who wrote her own one-woman comedy, inspired by her personal frustrations with aging.

In her performance, St. John noted that gift items are usually things that people want. Not so for seniors, she said. “We suddenly need things we never wanted — hearing aids and devices that compensate for lost abilities.”

By Heidi Randhava, as published in the Evanston RoundTable.