The Bellevue Youth Theater seems like an unlikely place for any senior-citizen group to take root, but that’s where the Ageless Actors got their start in 2004.

This troupe of elderly actors and drama students, now based out of the North Bellevue Community Center, performs regularly at retirement homes throughout the region, and has six shows booked through Dec. 10.

The group is like a cluster of stars, some refusing to fade and others just being born.

Luana Marshall, 75, is a former member of the Screen Actors Guild with an extensive background in television, stage, and motion pictures.

Marshall suffered a stroke in 2006. The event left her wheel-chair bound, and nearly broke her spirit – that is, before she found the Ageless Actors.

“I love this group,” she said. “It makes me feel real again.”

Shutsen Chen, 50, is a shy novice who stepped out of her comfort zone this year to play the lead role in “Dragon to the Rescue,” the story of a crippled girl brought back to health by a mystical dragon.

Chen, who speaks English as a second language, claims the acting classes have improve her speech.

“My friends all tell me I speak more clearly now,” she said.

The classes help students in other ways, like exercising their bodies and minds.

Director and founder Blossom Landau says acting is the perfect activity for senior citizens.

“It gives them the opportunity and the necessity to memorize, and that’s something older people need to keep themselves going,” she said.

Research shows that people who challenge their minds – whether it’s through guitar lessons or just crossword puzzles – have a lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

Landau is a taskmaster when it comes to directing, but she can justify her perfectionist standards with an august pedigree.

The former starlet studied theater at three elite schools – Berkeley, Stanford, and New York University. She also played character leads with the San Francisco Repertory, and founded the Los Angeles Children’s Theatre, which earned recognition as the best of its kind in 1960.

None of the actors seem to mind their director’s style.

“I think she’s exactly what we need,” said Angie Gamido, 72. “I love it. I have a great time.”

Some of the students even give back a little of that criticism, at least playfully. Chen points out that Landau used to offer feedback only when the actors messed up, but she admits the director is getting more positive these days.

“There’s still room for improvement,” she says, laughing as she shrinks away from Landau.

The Ageless Actors work without the luxury of props, improvising sets with each venue – a chair here, a table there, maybe a spare phone if they can find one.

Each show from the group consists of three scenes from varying genres.

A typical performance might start with an improbable comedy about an unemployed man coming home to find his house burglarized, and his wife – who doesn’t know he’s out of work – in a tizzy. That same show could end with a true-to-life drama about two people who remember a shared past very differently.

The Ageless Actors group includes seven members, but Landau is looking to expand to 12, and she plans to hold auditions in the near future.

Landau is hoping more men will join her group. It’s been all-female at times, and even today includes only two male actors.

Chris Mitchell, 66, is one of those men. He hasn’t acted since 1961, when he was a senior at Bellevue High. But he has a confident wit, and carries himself with the air of a classic silver-screen star, occasionally breaking away from the group for a toke on his pipe.

“He’s a natural,” Landau said. “A natural ham.”

The Ageless Actors recently added pianist Shu Fen Kho, 56, who brings a new element of music to the shows.

Landua charges $60 per student for three months of weekly acting lessons with the group. The regular performers rehearse nearly every day.

For information about auditions with the Ageless Actors, contact Landau at 425-746-2650.