ACuTe is a trend setting, large-scale European innovation project aiming to revolutionize the way theatre and performing arts are produced and performed with emerging technology and new forms of cultural collaboration and competence development.
ACuTe will be delivered via a strong partnership of 14 leading theatres, universities and creative arts organizations including Ars Electronica, the European Theatre Convention, and Europe’s first Academy for Theatre and Digitality. From 10 different European countries, this consortium will achieve new approaches and models for testing of new technology leading to audience development, co-creation, and capacity development within performing arts and theatre institutions.
With an interdisciplinary approach integrating digital technology and co-creation methodologies, a new type of ‘culture testbed’ will be created. These testbeds will lead to the testing and tangible prototyping of new technologies within performing arts productions under three themes: 1. new dramaturgies, 2. stage design and 3. audience engagement – innovations on how we tell stories on stage, how they are produced, and the way audiences interact and engage with them. Specifically, a series of nine (9) separate experimental theatre productions will be designed, produced and performed as the core of the testbed outputs. Other activities include a series of Expert in Residencies to support prototyping, European level knowledge transfer events, online content for professional communities, training workshops and online and face-to-face activities offered with the partnering institutions focusing on developing professional capacity in the deep integration of technology in the long-term theatre production process. Culture testbeds will also enable meaningful communication with and engagement of audiences across Europe and within the European theatre sector.
SUPPORTING CO-CREATION
The project will offer a new level of integration across dozens of institutions by building upon short-term training projects previously funded by the EU which introduce emerging technologies among performing arts institutions to create a more robust, long-term methodology for integrating technologies in public performances at institutions – testbeds have been chosen as the approach to support this deep innovation process. With a wide range of diverse activities until 2025, the four-year project applies testbeds as a proven process of innovation in other industries to address the diverse needs of the performing arts sector. Furthermore, the project will support co-creation within existing performance production teams at each participating institution and exposes European creative professionals and thousands of audience members to new live cultural experiences through various emerging technologies.
Activities specifically aim to encourage audience development amongst under-represented audience groups. Outreach and accessibility will be the key elements of this approach. With a focus on change management and an emphasis on cultural mediation, the project will result in increased capabilities for digital technology usage within a cultural, performing arts context across European theatres. Project evaluations and (digital) audience development strategies will be shared at conferences, in research blogs, within European theatre networks and help to further contribute to the future viability of audience development in the cultural sector post-COVID-19 among performing arts institutions, policy makers at the EU level.
Six different work packages and associated milestones will be delivered throughout five project stages by experienced performing arts professionals, external experts and academic advisors from the consortium, the three research partners – The Estonian Academy of Arts, Estonia; Saxion University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands; and Oulu University of Applied Sciences, Finland as well as the theatre network organization – European Theatre Convention (ETC).
