Log in

Tom Hyder Memorial Plenary: Honoring a Legacy, Inspiring the Future


Closing Session

Thank You For Holding - The Caregiver Play Project 

Exploring the Caregiver Experience Through Theatre. 

Inspired by real-life caregiver stories, this powerful play brings to life a series of interwoven fictional scenes designed to spark reflection and conversation. Through compelling storytelling, the performance invites the audience to explore essential questions: What does a true community of care look like? How do we, as a society, value caregiving? 

MGS will present a partial screening of this original performance Following the screening, Allison Breninger from Negative Space will lead an interactive small-group discussion, encouraging deeper dialogue and shared perspectives.

Attendees will leave with the Caregiver’s Inventory Toolkit, a valuable resource for both professional and personal caregiving experiences. 

Don’t miss this engaging and thought-provoking session!




Alan M. Berks, Co-Artistic Director* (he/him), is a theater-maker whose work has been seen in all over the country. He has written or co-written the majority of plays and other art produced by Wonderlust. Alan is also a teacher, communications consultant, former communications director at Pillsbury House + Theatre and co-founder and former editor of MinnesotaPlaylist.com. 
 
Leah Cooper, Co-Artistic Director* (she/her), has been directing, producing, and managing in theater for over 30 years.  Leah is also a facilitator and consultant in community engagement and organizational development, and she serves on the board of directors for the Department of Public Transformation. Prior to working full time in the arts, she spent 10 years in the corporate sector as a software engineer and business consultant. She’s done a wide variety of things, but the unifying theme to her passion is inclusive creativity and creative inclusivity. 

Wonderlust Productions is a multicultural, multidisciplinary ensemble of professional artists that collaborates directly with diverse local communities – those who are essential to society but whose stories are often ignored or misunderstood – to forge new ways of seeing our common experiences by creating new art that transforms the past into a better future. Thank You for Holding: The Caregiver Play Project was developed over two years of collaboration with caregivers across the spectrum, and asks the audience to consider: What does a community of care look like? How do we place a value on care as a society? 

Learn More




Allison has a MA in Education and spent twenty years teaching, training, directing, coaching, and creating content in the realm of education. A caregiver for her husband since 2010, she experienced firsthand that caregivers are in the negative space: vital yet overlooked and unsupported. Fueled by what she saw, Allison created The Negative Space as a way to use her experience and skills to change the way caregivers are seen and supported.

Through The Negative Space, she shines light on the realities of caregiving, provides direct services to caregivers and educates and equips those who support them with concrete tools and strategies.

Learn more

Minnesota Gerontological Society (MGS) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. 3050 145th St. W #377 Rosemount, MN 55068

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please email us at info@mngero.org

Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software