Introducing Royal Exchange’s Company of Elders

When we ask Brenda Hickey what she gets from theatre she answers without hesitation. “I’ve learned to live again,” she says, “and remembered what it’s like to have fun, to be proud of what I am achieving and to feel empowered.”  

Hickey is a member of the Royal Exchange’s Company of Elders, a group of amateur actors that trains and performs at the Manchester theatre. They’ve taken part in a number of Exchange productions, most recently Flicker and the Flying Books, which was part of the Manchester Children’s Book Festival back in June and July. Flicker... saw the Elders join forces with the Exchange’s Young Company for an imaginative romp packed with storytelling, silliness and plenty of paper props.  

“It was really well received, and got a lot of interest on Twitter,” says Flicker... director Andy Barry, who also leads the Elders project. “Audiences said how energised the elders were, how equal it felt and how well they worked as an ensemble.”  

“The older and younger generations in my experience have so much to give each other,” adds Hickey. “In all my life I never had a best friend until I was in a performance called My Young and Foolish Heart at the Exchange and met little Kayley. We became inseparable, even though she was 12 and I was 64.”  

Inspiring moments like this are what keeps Hickey coming back and, under a new 'Champions' programme, she is now helping Barry spread the word of their work even further.  

“The idea is that Champions like Brenda go out with myself and lead workshops in the community, as a way to recruit new people,” says Barry. “They’ll have the chance to lead sessions, developing a new set of skills.”

The company currently meets once a week, receiving workshops from both Barry and other professionals involved with the Exchange, whether that be a movement session from Exchange associate artist Benji Reid or a puppeteering class from Little Shop of Horrors' CJ Johnson. There are also monthly taster sessions that allow people to see what it’s all about before signing up.   

“It’s about building skills, pushing the boundaries and challenging the stereotypes of ageing,” says Barry, who has led the company since it was formed in January 2014. “We want to broaden the access that non-professionals have to work with professionals – that is a big part of what the Exchange is working on at the moment.”  

They’re not the only theatre to have seen the value in engaging older people. Both the Bolton Octagon and the Oldham Coliseum have similar schemes, while other arts organisations like the Manchester Camerata are in the process of establishing their own equivalents.  

“As well as the benefits for the older people it benefits us too: it gives us contact with a different generation, and helps us better represent them on stage,” explains Barry. “It’s definitely a two-way conversation.”  

It has certainly had a huge impact on Hickey. As with many of the Elders, she had never so much as looked at a stage, let alone acted on one, before she retired. The victim of two abusive marriages, her life before theatre was, she says, “Being a performing monkey for other people, being ridiculed, abused and made to feel worthless and useless.  

“My life has changed out of all recognition since I became involved with the theatre and acting. I became stronger, more confident and I have discovered so many personal hidden talents. I was reborn at 60. I haven't retired: my life has only just begun.”  

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To find out more about the Company of Elders, head to royalexchange.co.uk/elders-company