By Chelise Robinson
DEFYING stereotypes and rewriting the script on ageing, nine spirited creatives from the hinterland are proving that inspiration doesn’t retire.
Local group Planet-9 is transforming the twilight years into an extended era of expression, using poetry, music, and theatre to explore life’s biggest questions and challenge society’s expectations of age in the process.
Author, Jill Morris, said the idea behind Planet-9 was to collaborate with people her own age to explore their inspirations and desire to create during this new stage of life.
“When you’re old, you need a sense of purpose – that’s the one that goes missing,” she said.
“I think out there, there are those who are a bit lost in who they are when they’re 89 and they’ve all got amazing rich backgrounds that get wasted.”
Continuing to explore the skills and knowledge gained from their younger years, the group rejects the idea of being ‘too old’ and stands firm in remaining true to their passions.
The World Health Organisation revealed older people’s mental health is shaped mainly by social environment, producing social isolation and loneliness as a leading cause for depression in the older generation.
Mental health promotion and prevention focuses on creating social environments that enable people to continue doing what is important to them.
Jill speaks about how the club members didn’t want to be treated like they were old and gathering provided a safe space to live beyond their age.
“We don’t want to just have a cup of tea and a chocolate cake like a lot of the old groups get together for socialising – I was looking for curious, intelligent people because I wanted to go a little bit deeper,” she said.
The group gathers once a month to develop plays, poems and performances, expressing their passions and reimagining the idea of aging.
Planet-9 is the concept of a hypothetical planet being present in space but not visible to the human eye, leaving it to the imagination, a concept the group has adapted.
Jill explained the current project the ensemble is working on explores the idea of the moon and how they can contribute their own talents to traverse the topic.
“They became so animated about the moon that I decided it is going to be the topic and a creator of like a poem to the moon,” she said.
Four of the group members are bringing their musical talents into the next meeting along with their instruments to perform music and poetry to the chosen topic.
Along with a singer, an actress and a poet, the group has previously produced two plays, Stages and Changes, which were performed at the Maleny Players in 2023 and 2024.
Jill hopes the next gathering will draw in any potential newcomers who are looking for some fun and a space to use their strong creative personalities.
Planet-9’s next gathering will be at the Playhouse Maleny on Thursday, August 7 at 10am and is open to anyone who is interested.