Creative Europe
Desk UK
for Culture

COAST (Community Oriented Arts and Social Transformation) was an innovative project devised in partnership with Rotterdam Wijktheater, Teater Grodzki in Poland and Expedition Metropolis in Berlin.

This project was the answer to a difficult economic climate, as a way to share work, workers, examine best practice and disseminate learning to the wider world of community/participatory arts. It focuses on exploring the cultural interface between migrant and host communities in the four countries, and how borders (artistic, social, national) can be crossed.

The project will include:
4 new plays with migrant communities
4 gatherings, one in each country
4 staff secondments
Two publications and a DVD tracking and evaluating the project.
The second gathering will take place in Bristol in March 2011, and will include performances of the four plays.
acta’s aspiration is to build around this core activity, so that the gathering may be able to grow into a larger festival event, which can include performances and visits from similar projects across the UK.Not the huge festival we originally envisaged, but perhaps a beginning from which to build in the future.
acta are keen to hear from others who are making community theatre with migrant communities, or who are interested in keeping in touch with the project.