The Kids are back! – are they?

The online conference Curtain Up! The Kids Are Back has given a very interesting overview into the work of so many theater makers and teachers, and we can well see how the happenings in the groups are slowly approaching again what can be called „normal“. In reality, there is no return to old patterns, we believe the Conference clearly demonstrates this as well, that we must strive to boldly call a spade a spade and work through the issues with our methods. We would like to summarize my experiences and emphasize that my experiences are subjective.

We were particularly impressed by the report of Lillian Mbabazi from Uganda, who calls for an emancipated approach of young people to shape their lives and impressively also shows the creative strategies she uses. We improvised and experienced with Lillian later in the Impro workshop of Robin, and we had fun trying out some online formats with him. Thanks to Robin who was able to step in very spontaneously. It was very fun and funny for me – and educational!

Edith Coen’s questionnaire survey is very exciting, and it is our concern to support this important work with the network of IDEA AUSTRIA. Perhaps it will be possible to give the research a space for presentation as well. In any case, thank you very much for hearing about these topics. We also appreciate the network in this respect very much!

Gillian McNally’s keynote was also a practical demonstration; we got surprised with a task and we were able to discuss and develop it in a small group. Unfortunately, it was not possible to see the presentations of the other groups, but it became very clear how she brings the different experiences to a common point of view. Working with emotions is also hugely important in our teaching – and we try to communicate this clearly to the student teachers we teach.

The presentation of Ekaterina Vetrov was very impressive as powerful as she presented we could see a video of the KingDom Theatre from Ottawa. Great to see how the young people develop and what enchanting play they bring to the stage. We really hope to see this group in real life one day, the few minutes impressed me very much.

Finally, we would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to mention next year’s IDEA AUSTRIA event: 50 Years of Drama / Theatre in Education in Austria. We want to plan together how we start into future – and what we take away from the results of the past years. We thank AITA/IATA for their support in bringing people together and sharing knowledge and theory and practice in the field of Drama / Theatre. Our warmest invitation to this event!