The Follow-up activities consist of focus seminars for the Directors taking part in the working groups (coproduction/research projects), aimed at discussing and gaining further insight into two basic elements of performing arts: direction and dramaturgy, often underestimated when producing shows for early years.
Over the first three years of the project, three seminars of three days each will be held. They will be focused on Direction and Dramaturgy, and Gerd Taube, director of Kinder-und Jugend Theater Zentrum, will be the facilitator.
Three main drama-related topics will be examined and discussed:
• What kind of sense of humour do little children have?
How important is humour for the little ones? How does sense of humour vary in the different age groups? Are there any comic mechanisms children have in common? If so, what are they? What are the common elements? Do these elements recur? What determines the humorous effect? Are there any specific comic mechanisms that “work”? …
• What taboos can we address with the different age groups of early years?
Are there any taboo topics in the artistic relationship with the children? If so, what are they? Do they change based on the age group? If not, why then are topics such as death or sorrow hardly ever explored? Is that because the adults have a problem with it or is it something relating to a lack of knowledge of the children? Can it be interesting for kids to explore such topics or is it just a necessity of the adult artists to do it? …
• What is the difference between sense and meaning and what is the value of this difference in the artistic relationship with small children?
Any type of communication has a sense and a meaning. The sense is the message conveyed by the artistic proposal, the meaning, on the other hand, is connected to the individual sensitivity of the recipient. If the recipient is a small kid, what aspects of the proposals do artists need to take care of in order to approach the child’s sensitivity?
The reflections arisen during the seminars will also entwine with the research work on the Map and with the co-production project, influencing the productions to a greater or lesser extent.
