Interactive Theatre as an Andragogical Tool: Assessing a Cybersecurity Program Across Adult Age Groups

This study examines audience reception of two implementations of an interactive theatre-based scam-prevention program developed to raise awareness of scams targeting older adults. The 2023 and 2024 implementations differed in cast composition, pacing, length, audience interaction, and scenario structure. Rather than treating these differences as the basis for causal comparison, this article uses the two implementations as programmatic cases for identifying how audience members made sense of theatre-based cybersecurity education. The study is guided primarily by andragogy, with geragogy used as an age-specific extension for interpreting older participants’ comments about accessibility, pacing, repetition, and instructional support. It uses a qualitative, multi-method design based on post-performance surveys with open-ended questions (N = 332; n = 164 in 2023, n = 108 in 2024) and follow-up interviews (N = 27; n = 15 in 2023, n = 12 in 2024). Findings show that participants valued practical scam-prevention information, emotional resonance, humor, accessibility, and opportunities for reflection, while also identifying design tensions around pacing, interactivity, repetition, and emotional tone. Age-group patterns were directional rather than categorical: interviews suggested stronger contrasts in how older and younger adults interpreted the program, while survey responses showed more mixed and overlapping forms of learning and engagement. The study contributes design-oriented insights for theatre-based cybersecurity education and suggests that andragogy, supplemented by geragogical attention to later-life accessibility and support, offers a useful framework for future program development.