The Elders
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Elders aren’t just older – they’re wiser. In a good society, older people are respected for their experience, for their knowledge and for everything they can teach us.
The Royal Exchange Elders Company is for everyone aged 60+ who wants to feel connected to new people and ideas, develop performance skills and make boundary-pushing theatre that challenges negative stereotypes of ageing.
"I am not the same person who joined The Elders on that very first day. Nothing else I do in my activities or, indeed, have done in the past has brought my new found confidence I am now experiencing. I want to shout from the rooftops, ‘look out world, here I come. And if I can do it, so can you."
The Elders Company is currently at full capacity. Please see below for Elders opportunities currently open to anyone aged 60+.
Elders Monthly sessions are a taster workshop for those who wish to develop drama skills and find out more about the process of making theatre. Please click here for more information and upcoming dates.
Elders Investigate sessions enable older people to explore and interrogate the relationship between arts & culture and ageing through discussion and creative writing. Sessions are led by Sarah Butler, a novelist who specialises in socially engaged practice and place specific writing. Please click here for more information and upcoming dates.
For further information on The Elders please contact Andy Barry on 0161 615 6792 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
For an in-depth study of the programme so far, why not read our article looking from our initial pilot to working inter-generationally with our Young Company.
Marianne Downes responds to The Space Between Us
Elders Company member, Marianne Downes, responds to her experience of THE SPACE BETWEEN US, an intergenerational performance, which premiered in the Studio in February
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Elders Investigate: Barriers to theatre-going
Six members of the Elders Company have been working with Sarah Butler to investigate why some older people don’t go to the theatre or take part in drama groups.
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Sarah Butler in response to The Space Between Us
Writer Sarah Butler, who leads the Elders Investigate programme of work, responds to intergenerational performance THE SPACE BETWEEN US which premiered in the Studio last week
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Elders Investigate: Arts culture and ageing
On Monday 7th November, Elders Investigate hosted an Open Space conversation event, inviting participants to suggest conversation topics under the theme of arts culture and ageing.
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Elders Investigate: Elders Arts Programme
‘Every arts organisation in the UK should have a programme specifically aimed at older people’. Discuss
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Elders Investigate: I See You
After the workshop about language and ageing on 19th October, Elders member Brenda Hickey was inspired to write another poem exploring how she might be seen by others.
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Elders Investigate: A Dictionary of Age
On 29th September, writer Sarah Butler worked with Elders Company members to explore the language used about age and ageing.
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Elders Investigate: Language and Ageing
On 29th October, Sarah Butler worked with 9 members of the elders company to creatively explore the language used about age and ageing.
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