Social Theatre for the Active Generation in the EU

What a creative week we just spent combining puppet theatre and discussions about the EU elections in Greece! We were hosted by our Greek partner Prasin Aloga from the 17th to the 21st April to shoot the first theatre performance of the Erasmus+ ONSTAGE project. We came up with an original story to talk about the importance of expressing our voices and convince more young people to vote for the European Elections this June! The project ‘Social Theatre for the Active Generation in the EU’ (ON S.T.A.G.E) is a KA210 youth project designed to empower young people (aged 18-30) in Germany, Ireland, Greece and Portugal to engage with political issues through theatre. It aims to promote civic engagement among disadvantaged youth, especially for those from ethnic minority backgrounds. They will develop critical citizenship skills and be encouraged to advocate for change by voting in the European elections, increasing their social participation. The projects includes local activities and 2 youth mobilities in Greece and Germany. Partners will create useful resources, including a project website, a Guidebook on participation in the EU elections for youth and Youth worker Toolkit on youths’ socio-political inclusion. The project has a Facebook page and Instagram page updated with all ongoing and scheduled activities. DAY 1 – 17th April On the first day, we met to start finalising the story we drafted during the online theatre preparation sessions. Each participant also had the chance to create their own puppet character from scratch under the guidance of our Greek expert partner. DAY 2 – 18th April On the second day, participants worked on their connection to their character and found its space in the story. They also practised how to move the puppet on stage, making it look as natural as possible in its movements and finding a way to express their emotions and voices through its presence on the stage. In the afternoon, we got the chance to explore Athens! We visited the stunning Acropolis, walked in streets of the ancient city and browsed around the ancient Agora! For many of us, this was a memorable moment, as we explored the places where our contemporary ideas of democracy and politics discussed during the local activities and online sessions stemmed from. DAY 3 – 19th April On the third day, the group rehearsed the main performance! Participants created their small dialogues and got the chance to test the story, bringing their puppets finally alive and interacting with each other. DAY 4 – 20th April On the forth day, we shot the video of the final performance! Participants also got the chance to express their preferences on the background music and the outro for the final product. We also got the chance to learn more about our countries thanks to the cultural night! We tried a little bit of everything, from the Irish dance to the Portuguese karaoke, passing by Greek olives and cheese and German tong twisters! DAY 5 – 21st April On the fifth and last day, we had a collective reflection on the experience, where participants shared their feedback and emotions felt throughout the week. We also had our certificate ceremony and participants got to learn more about the Youthpass certificate. What about the theatre performance story? Are you curious to see what young people came up with during the week? We will release and promote the final video on our upcoming webinar on June 20th at 5:30pm (Irish time)! Get in touch to receive the link! Sneak peak: it includes spiders, giants, ghosts and a flying character! How is this related to democracy and the EU elections? It’s up to you to find out! What’s next? The next phase of the project includes the finalisation of the project’s Guidebook on Youth Participation in the European Elections. This includes information on ethnic minorities struggles and non-formal methods for youth workers to address and discuss these topics and the youth involvement in the EU elections. It will be available for free to use and download! More information coming soon on our Facebook and Instagram! The project will continue with the preparation of the second and final mobility, planned for October 2024. We will fly to Germany and interact on a stage theatre! Are you interested in taking part? We are looking for 3 participants willing to travel and experiment with stage theatre! Sign up here to take part and contact us to get more information!