Boal and Beyond
Autopoietic Theatre for Youth Empowerment

Open call for a Train-the-Trainer-Program on “Autopoietic Theatre for Youth Empowerment”

This program offers space for European youth-workers to learn techniques from the Autopoietic Theatre to be applied to their work-realities.

Autopoietic Theatre / Theatre of the Oppressed

Augusto Boal’s work, which originated in Brazil during the 1960s and 70s, has had a profound impact on the world. It has nowadays spread to over 80 countries on all continents, demonstrating the enormous adaptability of his approach. Boal’s work is related to the ideas of Paulo Freire, an influential educator who believed that education could be a powerful tool for social change. Through the use of participatory theatre techniques, Boal sought to increase the ability of marginalized individuals to shape their living environment and promote social justice. By engaging participants in a collaborative process of creation, this theatre work aims to shift the power dynamics and create opportunities for dialogue and reflection.

In the 7-day training lead by Birgit Fritz, participants will get to know the approach of “Autopoietic Theatre / Theatre of the Oppressed (TO)” and understand the potential of it for dealing with contemporary challenges for young people in Europe. Participants will be equipped with tools to bring the TO-approach to their working realities.

Objectives

▪ To equip youth worker and youth leaders with the competences to make use of transformative theatre approaches in their work

▪ To commonly explore the potential of transformative theatre for contemporary youth work challenges

▪ To develop follow-up projects making use of the outcomes of the training

Outlines of the training

Date: 25.10. – 31.10.2024 (arrival/departure: 24.10./01.11.2024)

Location: Augsburg, Germany

PAX: 26

Participation-fee: 75,-€

Costs for accommodation & allowance are covered. Accommodation in 2-4 bedroom-dorms.

Application-deadline: 28.07.2024

Support needs: please let us know about your needs concerning accessibility of venue/accommodation or any other kind of support.

Trainer

Birgit Fritz is a Drama Therapist, Theatre of the Oppressed Practitioner, and a Drama- and Feldenkrais-pedagogue. Currently she teaches applied theatre work at FH Würzburg/Germany (faculty of Social Work). Birgit has previously taught as a visiting tutor at various Universities and has founded the theatre platform TdU-Wien in 2002. In Vienna she has run several empowerment projects for women and girls as well as training courses for applied drama. She is the author of „The Courage to Become“ (2017) and „InExActArt“ (2012) and the translator of Augusto Boal’s autobiography into German. In her work she focuses on body awareness as a tool for empowerment and on collective artistic creation for creating a sense of belonging and healing narrative. She is a mentor to several theatre groups and a long-standing practitioner of the Theatre of Augusto Boal. www.birgitfritz.net