PARTNERSHIPS AND RESULTS IN COMENIUS, LEONARDO DA VINCI AND GRUNDTVIG
National Agencies

2013-1-GB2-GRU06-11004

Grey Matters

Grundtvig partnerships

PARTNERS
  • United Kingdom
  • Slovakia
  • Germany
  • Netherlands
  • Belgium
  • Poland
  •  

    ORGANIZATION Coordinator

    Acta Community Theatre Limited

    TYPE OF ORGANIZATION

    Cultural organisation (e.g. museum, art gallery)

    ADDRESS

    actacentre, Gladstone Street, Bedminster, Bristol, UK – Bristol

    CONTACT PERSON

    Neil Beddow

    Grey Matters

    Grey Matters was a two year project (2013-15) involving community theatre companies in six European countries who engage older people in informal learning through theatre and the arts. The project involved each company working with groups of learners – older people and young adults – who worked together in a series of informal learning sessions to devise and create new pieces of community theatre. These pieces of theatre then performed locally, and toured to another partner country, resulting in the creation of 13 new plays, 60 performances, reaching estimated 4500 audience. The project exceeded original estimate of engagement, with 146 learners, 82 over 55; plus 37 staff across the 6 partner companies. The project was structured around a series of seven meetings/gatherings in different countries 1. Kick-off meeting, Bristol UK 9-10 September 2013; 2. ERROR Festival, Bratislava, 29-31 November 2013, 3. ICAF, Rotterdam, March 26-31 2014 – International Festival of Community Arts 4. HofFestSpiele, June 21-27 2014 - local and international community arts Festival - 5. Grey Matters Festival October 2014 6. ERROR Festival, Bratislava, November 2014 7. Final evaluation meeting, Antwerp, Belgium March 2015 Partners were able to share their work, using this sharing as a basis for the discussion of different methodologies. Participants were also able to meet and share experiences with other older learners from other countries, and reported growth in confidence, self-worth, communication skills and positive intergenerational friendships. The sharing of the newly devised theatre at each meeting was used as the focus for an ongoing series of formal and informal discussions between partners, comparing working methods, learning styles, theatrical techniques, and the social impact on participants. All partners reported that involvement in the project had positively influenced their existing methodologies, development of new work and strategies for continued

    RESULTS
  • Joint results
  • United Kingdom
  • Slovakia
  • Germany
  • Belgium
  • Poland
  • Grey Matters blog on Artes website

    Information and exchange on Artes website - designed for practitioners and students in participatory theatre and drama in adult education to share ideas and methodologies

    LANGUAGE(S)

    English

    AUDIENCE(S)

    Students, Trainees, Adult learners, Teachers, Trainers, Educators

    PRODUCT TYPE

    AVAILABILITY

    Link to

    COPYRIGHT

    Yes