acta has made a successful bid to the EU Grundtvig Lifelong Learning Fund for Grey Matters, a two year project which will focus on making community theatre with older people. The project will share learning between the staff of six European companies, around the different methods and approaches used to engage older people in learning through community theatre projects.

We will be working again with our partners from the Coast project; Rotterdams Wijktheater (Netherlands), Expedition Metropolis, Grodzki Theatre, and with new partners Sering (Belgium) and Devadlo bez Domovo (Slovakia).

Each company will work with a group of older people to develop a piece of theatre. acta will work with our Malcolm X Elders Theatre Co to create the Ticky Picky Boom Boom show, which has been invited to perform at the ICAF Festival in Rotterdam next March. Each of the partners will also host a performance, as well as touring their show to another partner country. acta will host the Sering company from Belgium at the acta centre next July. A gathering at the end of the two year period will bring together all six companies to share learning from the process through discussions, workshops and sharing of work.

This is wonderful news. The COAST project was such a wonderful project, with everyone learning so much from each other, and it is very exciting to be able to continue and develop our partnership with new companies. We’re looking forward to taking the Malcolm X Elders to the International Community Arts Festival (ICAF) in Rotterdam in March next year, and hosting the wonderful Sering company in July.  We’ll also be going along to see everyone’s work at festivals in Slovakia and Germany;  a great two years of international co-operation coming up.

The book and DVD of acta’s last international project, COAST – Crossing Borders in community theatre –  is also available.