Theatre from the very beginning!

Although our European neighbours have been familiar with them for a long time, Germany is just starting to discuss and experiment with theatrical pieces for our youngest theatre-goers. The Children and Youth Theatre Centre in Frankfurt joined the national debate concerning aesthetic education at the preschool level and discovered that children under five are far more open to theatre than adults may initially believe. At this festival theatre groups from around Germany put on aesthetically qualitative productions attended both by young children and international theatre artists who work with this genre and seek artistic exchange and inspiration. After showings in Berlin, Mannheim and Hamm, the festival in Dresden concluded a two-year thematic cycle based on the project Theatre from the very beginning! An exhibition of the project's reception and discussions with international youth and cultural policymakers supplemented the guest performances and offered perspectives for continuing cultural education programmes in this field.

Artistic director: Gabi dan Droste, Felicitas Löwe, Gerd Taube
Participating theatres: Theater Junge Generation, Dresden; HELIOS Theater, Hamm; SCHNAWWL Children and Youth Theatre at the Nationaltheater, Mannheim; Theater SiebenSchuh, Berlin; Deutsch-Sorbisches Volkstheater, Bautzen; Theater Mär, Hamburg; Spielraum Theater, Kassel; Junges Schauspielhaus, Düsseldorf; Theater Melanie Florschütz and Michael Döhnert, Berlin

Venue and schedule:
Theater Junge Generation, Meißner Landstraße 4, Dresden: 13 - 16 November 2008