Badge of Awesome Communities invites you to share your favourite things to see and do in cool destinations around the world. We caught up with the folks from Arts Collective Theatre — one of our featured attractions from the Windsor-Essex-Pelee Island area — to learn about what they have to offer.

What makes Arts Collective Theatre awesome?

ACT: Arts Collective Theatre (ACT) is a 4-year-old not-for-profit organization dedicated and committed to enhancing the well-being of Windsor Essex artists through theatre education and mentorship, and by bringing awareness to social justice issues in Windsor and beyond.

ACT offers programs for local artists at all levels of their theatrical development.  Our programs include:

ACT Community, a brand new annual theatre program which provides training and performance opportunities for multi-ethnic artists of all ages.  It operates to enhance the cultural and artistic awareness of the community by providing productions that illuminate diversity and a broad range of cultural experiences.  ACT Community strives to educate, enlighten, and entertain a diverse, multi-cultural audience by using local talent with the emphasis on providing exposure to under-served communities.  The first ACT Community production will be Dreamgirls, featuring a mainly African-Canadian cast.


The ACT Social Justice Theatre Project is a series of collaborative workshop to create a one act play. The project’s intention is to make audiences aware, through healthy public dialogue, of social justice issues by providing awareness and education to promote positive change. Past shows have included themes on teen and pre-teen cyberbullying, LGBTQ, refugee and newcomer barriers and stereotypes, mental health stigmas, and homeless and marginalized youth.

Workshop participants are not required to take part in the performance portion of this project and no theatre knowledge or experience is necessary. This project uses brainstorming, discussion, visual art and improvisation to create an original, honest play.

The 2018 ACT Social Justice Theatre Project theme is Newcomer Seniors. Workshops were conducted with seniors from Windsor Women Working With Immigrant Women, Life After 50, as well as other seniors in the Windsor community, during the months of June 2017 – January 2018. Many personal stories were shared and the one act play “In Flight” was created.  Our second 2018 Social Justice Theatre Project will look at the effect of bullying on seniors. This show will be presented in the summer of 2018.  Community Arts Focused Activity – Using the arts as a means to promote social awareness

We are excited to introduce another new ACT program called 30 Under 30. This is a summer program that brings together youth 18–30 to develop theatre skills, be mentored by local artists, produce a show, and receive honorariums for their hard work. It is dedicated to celebrating Windsor-Essex County’s artistic talent under the age of 30. This program serves to bring together young artists as they look for ways to continue to showcase their talent both during and post education. This year’s 30 Under 30 production will be HAIR, a show that celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Community Arts Focused Activity – Increasing community participation in the arts

In April 2017, ACT received the Champions for Education Award from the Greater Essex County District School Board for our commitment to ensuring that social justice theatre has a place within the Windsor-Essex arts family.

To learn more about ACT, visit actwindsor.com.  Or follow them on social media: