The idea of “doing theatre” as a means to support different disadvantaged groups at risk of social exclusion is quite ancient. Good practices are spread all over Europe, showing the potentials, effectiveness and transversal applicability of this methodology, which can be successfully applied to any age groups and adapted to several targets affected by different kinds of social disease. This educational approach is based upon the idea of developing key competences and skills, increasing sense of initiative and self-confidence by practicing theatre, thus facilitating social inclusion. Within the Italian context, one of the most relevant best practices belongs to the Community of San Patrignano, one of the partners of this project, using theatre for the rehabilitation of former drug addicts and eventually performing in prestigious theatres such as “Piccolo di Milano”, “Olimpico di Vicenza” and within the “Festival Pirandelliano”. A peculiar form, born in Brazil during the 80s and then become quite popular in Europe for its transversal applicability, is the “Theatre of the Oppressed”, based on the idea that while practicing theatre the “spect-actors” can transform the relation between themselves and their surroundings. However, this is just a possible declination of the extensive and powerful methodology of Social and Community Theatre. According to these premises, this project aims to promote cooperation and the exchange of good practices at European level and take advantage of the EU transparency and recognition tools to increase the training opportunities and employability of professionals working in the field of Social Theatre. In particular, the specific objectives of the project are:
The main target groups addressed by the project can be identified at three levels:
The most important tangible results of the project are three Intellectual Outputs, namely:
These three outputs, which are strictly connected among them, will be promoted and disseminated through four Multipliers Events including a huge final event in San Patrignano (Italy) supported by Regione Emilia Romagna. Four Joint Staff Training Events will be organised in partner countries to promote capacity building and the exchange of good practices:
Pilot courses to test and validate the training will be organised in four countries (Italy, Poland, Ireland, Portugal), followed by a work-based learning experience, so that each student will run a theatrical workshop addressing different categories of disadvantaged adult learners. A total of around eighty students trained and six hundred-eight hundred disadvantaged adult learners belonging to different categories will then benefit from the activities of this project. Four Multiplier Events will be organized in Portugal, Spain, Poland and Italy to disseminate the project outputs and the wider public so as to maximize the impact of the project. A huge final event will take place by the end of the project in San Patrignano Community, one of the places symbol of the whole project. “Associazione San Patrignano Scuola e Formazione” and the University of Roma Tre, through the Department of Educational Sciences, will cooperate with the RESTORE partnership as Associated Partners by sharing training methodologies and providing specific expertise in didactic and research for the production of the project outputs. In addition, the University will host sessions of the Italian Peer Learning Workshop and one of the round tables envisaged for the production of the third Intellectual Output, while actively contributing to the engagement of key stakeholders throughout the project.
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