MOUNT VERNON — Just as the intertwined arts promoter MTVArts and the theatrical production collective Bruce Jacklin & Co. have previously “spun off” summer musicals, a classics series and lately even cabaret shows, now the creative club has brainstormed a new venture: Senior Theater. The new series will feature shows that, while using actors of all ages, will offer special opportunities for older actors.

“Aging issues are paramount,” said Chuck Ransom. “Everyone all over the world deals with it, sooner or later.”

Ransom added that the project hopes not only to showcase talents of older actors and crew members, but to find new ones, too.

“We’ve heard the comment from people, ‘I’m a little too old to be on stage,’” said MTVArts president Janis Stone, “but that’s not true.”

To accommodate those who would like to try sharing a little life experience on stage without memorizing lines, future projects will include reader’s theater presentations where participants, after minimal rehearsal, read a show instead of acting it out.

Stone said MTVArts has created a new, branching tree to suggest the expansion of various programs to fill particular niches. Bruce Jacklin said that typically, he and Stone tackle the big summer musicals as director and producer respectively, also overseeing the thrice yearly productions at The Alcove Dinner Theater as well as the cabaret series. Matt Starr and Carrie Crouch carry the classics series as director and producer. Now Ransom and Ted Dingler are heading up the senior theater project.

The first show of the Senior Theater series, the drama “I Never Sang for my Father,” opens Friday, May 14. The show, directed by Ian Ernsberger, tells the story of a middle-aged son, played by Bruce Jacklin, trying to break down personal walls in order to communicate with his dying father, played by Ransom.

“Working up this character, I identified with him easily, especially the aging issues,” said Ransom, who, like his character, is in his 70s.

The rehearsals for the show are having a thoughtful impact on more than just the actors on stage.

“I feel like I’m hearing conversations I should have had with my father before he died,” said Dingler.

But it also looks at the situation from more than one character’s point of view, making it accessible to people of younger ages, too.

The show will be performed on the upstairs stage at The Alcove Restaurant, 116 S. Main St. Unlike the dinner theater shows, this one will be presented as dessert theater, offering a snack and refreshments. Performances will be May 14, 15 and 21 at 7 p.m. with a Sunday matinee on May 23 at 2 p.m. Call The Alcove Restaurant at 397-9923 for tickets.