Mind the Gap Celebrates Its Sweet 16!

Mind the Gap, New York Theatre Workshop’s intergenerational theatre program, has been bringing elders and teens together across New York City and the world for now sixteen years. Founded in 2009, Mind the Gap workshops match elders (ages 60 and up) to teens (13-19), and asks them to share with each other their hopes, dreams, and stories from their lives.

To celebrate this “Sweet 16,” we are looking back at where we’ve taken Mind the Gap this year, celebrating our partnerships across the globe, and reflecting on the community cultivated by this program throughout its history.

Mind the Gap: The Berkshires

The devising edition of Mind the Gap brings elders and teens together for an intensive workshop, jampacked with exercises and content generation inspired by intergenerational interviews. From poem-writing to movement pieces to fully-written scenes, the group goes from having just met on Monday to performing a ‘works-in-progress’ performance by Friday!

We celebrated our third year in partnership with Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center! Teaching Artist Noor Hamdi and Education & Engagement Associate Marty Chandler went up north to the Berkshires to lead the program, in collaboration with Program Assistant/Teen Mentor Carter Marks who is an alumnus from the first year of MTG at Mahaiwe!

In the devising process, a variety of issues and themes emerged, from difficulties with transportation in their mountainous community, to reflections on how it takes intergenerational collaboration to effect social change.

At the end of the week, local community members, family, and friends filled the space at Mahaiwe’s new Indigo Room venue for the ‘works-in-progress’ performance of the participants’ work. The piece, titled “Scrapbook,” flowed just as its title suggested—like flipping through a collage of moments and feelings. During the process, each ensemble member created a personal introduction moment to introduce themselves to the rest of the group. These moments ended up serving as transitions to weave together the piece, each moment elegantly moving us along with actions (e.g. swimming, reading, calmly breathing) important to the ensemble.

MARTY: This group brought fun, high-energy creativity every day. It was so magical to see how their intergenerational conversations became such moving moments. Those of us who facilitated the program felt so emotional watching some of their scenes!

NOOR: It never ceases to amaze me how a bunch of strangers’ dedication to a craft can culminate in a majestic performance, full of heart and soul and connection. I am so in awe of the participants and my co-facilitators in how they put together something so astounding in just one week.

—

Mind the Gap: London

Mind the Gap also went to London! In partnership with London South Bank University (LSBU) and Southwark Playhouse, Director of Education and Community Engagement Psacoya Guinn and longtime Mind the Gap Teaching Artist Andrew Garrett traveled across the pond for a weeklong Mind the Gap devising program. First year LSBU students and elders from the Southwark Playhouse improvisation company came together to discuss broad topics from the state of the theatre industry globally, to arts funding, to knife crime in London. This culminated in a final performance on the Southwark Playhouse stage depicting how theatre has the power to heal and cultivate community amongst strangers.

PSACOYA: It’s inspiring to see how the program evolves when working with first-year theatre majors at LSBU alongside elders at Southwark Playhouse, both deeply engaged in studying and practicing their craft. Their energy brought a unique dynamic to the program.

ANDREW: Our work together examined the participants’ relationships to theatre, identity, community, and challenges facing London. It was beautiful to see how the intergenerational ensemble supported and learned from one another throughout our week together, utilizing interviews, empathy, imagination, and collaboration. I look forward to seeing our growing community of alumni and future participants in London again soon.

—

Mind the Gap: New York City

 

Each year, NYTW hosts two sessions of the playwriting version of Mind the Gap: one in the winter/spring (January-March), and again in the summer (July-August).

During the first half of the program, each weekly interview brings together a different intergenerational pair, which encourages participants to get to know everyone within the group. Along the way, the group practices the fundamentals of playwriting, and specifically, “writing as a gift.” This phrase, inspired by a quote from Sarah Ruhl in an interview about For Peter Pan on her 70th birthday, represents how Mind the Gap participants create monologues, scenes, and short plays inspired by what they learn from their partner, which is a gift back to their partner—a symbol of their shared connection.

In the latter half of the program, the facilitators create ‘permanent partner’ pairs, and participants meet with the same partner each week as they work on developing a final ten-minute play. Then, the program culminates with a day-long series of readings, in which each participant’s play is read aloud by professional actors.

Our Winter/Spring 2025 cohort, led by Teaching Artist Rachel Abraham and Marty, brought light and laughter to even the coldest New York days, and their final play readings filled audiences with just as much joy, and even some tears.

RACHEL: Through theatre games, interviews, and group discussions, our teens and elders discovered that their similarities far outshined their differences. We bonded over our shared appreciation of 60s music, and desserts, and the smell of the air just before it rains. During a time of division and turmoil across the world, we created a weekly space for unity, peace, and understanding.

The Summer 2025 cohort, led again by Rachel along with Teaching Artist Kimberlee Walker, just concluded its program just a while ago, with a full house for its final play readings.

KIMBERLEE: I had a hunch about these pairings, and I’m so glad that there was a spark for each of them. I’m very proud of our participants! It was lovely to see each pair click and to hear what their imaginations brought forth, inspired by their partners. I hope they stay curious. Keep listening, exploring, and writing!

—

Mind the Gap: Beyond the Programs

Though our Mind the Gap programs are wrapped for 2025, the community built by these programs continues to flourish year-round. Each year, we have a reunion during one of the shows in the NYTW season.

Multiple cohorts meet up, whether in-person or virtually. And alumni of the program continue to give back to Mind the Gap and find ways to continue being a part of it. Both teens and elders with acting experience have returned as actors in the final readings; for example, Miranda Lopez Lechuga who participated as teen in Summer 2024 has already performed as an actor in our most recent two readings!

Many teens are so moved by the program, they return as the Teen Mentor. Our past Teen Mentors have included GB Bellamy, Joseph (JoJo) Fofana, Natalia Fuentes, and most recently, Kayden Merritt, who served as part of the Summer 2025 team.

As Summer 2023 elder alumnus Dan Capalbo suggests, the community and the connections are what really last from the program.

DAN: The most valuable thing I found throughout the experience was forming the relationships with the people both running the program and participating in the program. I was not expecting to connect to everyone at the deep degree in which I did. We all started coming a half hour earlier and hanging out with each other downstairs before we went upstairs to start the session. That became a regular part of it as the weeks went on. We didn’t talk about the work as much, we hung out and talked to each other as friends and about life.

PSACOYA: Mind the Gap is more than an education program. It’s a community. The results are evident in the relationships built, the stories shared, and the bridges created between generations of artists and audiences.

—

Interested in being part of Mind the Gap? Applications to be part of the Winter/Spring (January-March) 2026 Cohort in NYC are now open! Apply here by December 1st!

Want to bring Mind the Gap to your community? If you work with elders or teens and are interested in learning more about recruitment or becoming a Mind the Gap community-based partner, please contact Director of Education & Community Engagement Psacoya Guinn at psacoyag@nytw.org.

 

Explore more

Categories: Education and Mind The Gap. Tags: Education and Mind The Gap.