The Recycling Old Icons (ROI) -project’s aim was to improve language skills through a creative process involving theatre and acting. Adult learners and tutors from different European countries came together for a five days workshop in each participating country to discuss, analyze, and to finally write and perform scenes based on different classic plays: Othello by Shakespeare in Finland, Miss Julie by Strindberg in Sweden, Nathan the Wise by Lessing in Germany and Tartuffe by Molière in France. These plays were previously read and discussed in each participating country following a questionnaire prepared by the project coordinator (Finland).The analysis of the chosen classic plays aroused themes the adult learners still found contemporary in modern Europe (racism, women´s rights, gender, tolerance, empathy, humanism, hypocrisy, prejudice, etc.). Based on these themes short scenes were created and written in modern English by the adult learners with the guidance of language and theatre tutors. In the final day of the workshop these scenes were performed in English. This process resulted in increased self confidence of performing and speaking a foreign language in front of an audience. The performance was open to a larger audience.Based on the experiences gathered from the partnership the tutors have developed a method for teaching European values, language and performing skills by recycling old iconic plays.