Over the last few months I have undertaken a number of work placements and internships and have started to find a range of areas of interest. Before working with ‘Strike A Light Festival’ and ‘GDance’ I hadn’t thought much about being involved with community and outreach projects but this is something I’m becoming more and more interested in. I decided to look into this area further. A company that particularly sparked my interest was ‘Acta’- a Bristol based Theatre Company.

“acta uses the power of theatre to change people’s lives. We do this by involving people in creating their own original plays and performance projects.  Our unique ability to actively involve the hardest to reach sections of society is universally admired and respected.

We believe that theatre belongs to everyone, and everyone has a story to tell. Their voices are often not heard, so acta creates a place where everyone’s story matters, where individual opinions and experiences count, and are valued by others. We enable communities to share their stories, and engage at least 4 out of 5 audience members who rarely attend theatre.

Our projects create positive change in individuals, raising aspirations and improving skills, confidence, self-worth & employability; we enable people to work together, make theatre and have fun.

acta’s programme of work is underpinned by the following core principles:

Access – providing opportunities to create, engage with and enjoy the arts; we ensure our programme is affordable, relevant, reflective and proactive

Participation – active creative involvement in making original theatre and art; building skills, self-esteem & employability for individuals; bringing people together for a common purpose, building confidence & pride of place.

Diversity – acta seeks to redress balance of engagement in arts by targeting opportunities at excluded communities. The Company supports the creative case for diversity; the arts need people from all sections of the community, keeping work fresh, bringing in new ideas, influences & cultures.

Quality – creating and producing art of the highest quality, providing the highest quality of participant experience and collaborating with well-respected theatre-makers.”

I really admire their core principles. The idea of offering people from all walks of life the opportunity to see/be involved with high quality performance really excites me. I wanted to learn more so got in touch with Kathryn Harris, the programme assistant at Acta. I originally just asked for some advice on starting out in the creative industries.

“My advice, which is just what I did and the only thing I know is to ask for as much shadowing on any kind of project. Go and see how other people work. Say yes to everything (for as long as you can afford it) always talk to as many people as possible about getting experience and get involved with some community work anywhere, just shows that your good with people and get stuff done!”

I found her background really quite interesting and thought interviewing her about her career journey so far would be helpful for my own professional development. I mainly asked her about Acta, her job role and if she had any further advice for those starting out in the arts industry.

I found her passion and confidence hugely inspiring and shall definitely take her advice on board. Interviewing Kathryn has definitely furthered my interest in community arts projects and I hope to perhaps be able to get involved with a project alongside Kathryn/Acta in the future.