Washington, DC – Last weekend during the Ward 8 Farmers’ Market ribbon cutting, Double Nickels (DN) Theatre Company and THEARC announced their new partnership to promote community involvement with seniors through the arts. This unprecedented partnership, will celebrate seniors and their ongoing contributions to society through storytelling and theatre. 

DN will host ElderSpeak Salon, a program where seniors will be invited to share stories that will be recorded and showcased over a series of outdoor performances. Additionally, some stories will be selected for inclusion in a theatrical performance on stage at THEARC. Community residents of all ages will be invited to attend and participate during these performances.

“We are ecstatic about our new partnership with THEARC but most importantly, we are looking forward to bringing something unique and impactful to seniors and the young people who live here in the local community,” said Antoinette Ford, president and founder of the Double Nickels Theatre Company. “This is our opportunity to bring generations together in a fun setting that will allow them to learn from each other.”

In addition to the partnership, DN will now officially reside at THEARC. The organization’s new address is 1901 Mississippi Avenue, SE Box 206 Washington, DC 20020. As a welcome addition to THEARC, Double Nickels will bring a new perspective on life and history to young people through theatre and telling true stories through the eyes of seniors.

Double Nickels is a community theatre company founded in 2006 to encourage seniors to stay actively involved with their communities, young people, and people of diverse cultures. The organization has been supported by THEARC since its founding. Since 2006, the Double Nickels Theatre Company has partnered with the Washington National Opera, local colleges’ drama departments, the Kennedy Center and the Armed Forces Retirement Home. Through the Double Nickels, the true stories of seniors and veterans are brought to stages across Washington, D.C.

Officially opened in October 2005, The Town Hall Education Arts and Recreation Campus (THEARC) is a $27 million, 110,000 square-foot campus located east of the Anacostia River in Washington, DC’s Ward 8.  THEARC is a home away from home for the many underserved children and adults of East of the River, enabling them to participate in dance classes, music instruction, fine arts, academics, continuing education, mentoring, tutoring, recreation, medical and dental care, and other services at a substantially reduced cost or no cost at all. In addition to THEARC Theater, a 365-seat community theater that is the only theater of any kind located east of the Anacostia River in Washington, DC, THEARC includes a regulation size gymnasium, libraries, computer labs, classrooms, dance, music and visual arts studios, an art gallery, public playgrounds, gardens and other first-rate facilities. In total, Building Bridges and its ten resident partners at THEARC deliver more than $14 million worth of cultural and community services to more than 85,000 people annually.