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The repertoire in theater for teenage audiences

16:00

DISCUSSION

coordinated by Dr. Andri Konstantinou

Description

Do Cypriot teenagers go to the theater? For what reasons? What do they expect to see and hear when they go? What kind of plays would interest them, in what language, what themes?

How can theater open horizons, provoke thought, surprise, comfort, challenge, create humor, and strengthen the sense of community?

Can the much-discussed gap between children's theater and adult theater be filled so that Cypriot theater can gain a wider audience? What can contribute in this direction?

What kind of plays for a teenage audience are being written today? Are plays written for this age group in Cyprus? What is "good" for these children, what topics and what shows are "appropriate"? Do we need committees to evaluate and approve? With what criteria? When teenagers themselves write, what do they write? What can we learn from interacting with them?

The discussion, with participants who contribute to theater for adolescent audiences or observe it from different capacities and perspectives, aims to raise issues concerning the themes of the works – but also their stage realization – for the entire spectrum of adolescence.

Biographical notes:

Andri H. Konstantinou is a Theatre Theorist, Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Sciences at Frederick University. She holds a degree from the Department of Theatre Studies at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and a PhD from the Department of Theatre at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. She collaborated, as an assistant director, with L. Vogiatzi and E. Gavriilidis and directed small-scale performances. She designed and animated theatre workshops for children and adults, taught theatre at all levels of education in Greece and Cyprus and directed performances in schools. She taught at the University of Cyprus, served as a dramatist at the National Theatre of Cyprus and worked on the creation of the Cyprus Theatre Museum. Her scientific publications mainly concern theatre in modern Cyprus and theatre with and for adolescents.

Eleni Anastasiou holds a PhD from the Department of Theatre of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and is a dramaturg-director. As a director, she has collaborated with THOK, the Satirical Theatre, the Antilogos Theatre, Alpha Square, the Nicosia International Festival and the Nicosia Pop Up Festival. Since 2016, she has specialized in theatre for children and young people with the INTRA PORTAS suitcase theatre group, creating performances that travel to schools and cultural venues throughout Cyprus. At the same time, she teaches Drama at the Drama School of the Satirical Theatre. She is Vice-President of the Theatre Centre for Children and Young People (ASSITEJ Cyprus) and a member of the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Centre of the International Theatre Institute.

Irini Andreou is a graduate of the Drama School of the New Greek Theatre of George Armenis and a graduate of the Department of Theatre Studies of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She lives and works in Nicosia as an actor and theatre scholar. As an actor, she has collaborated with important directors, theatre organizations and festivals in Cyprus and Greece, as well as with small theatre groups. Her professional activity also extends to the design and animation of artistic workshops, directing and dramaturgy. At the same time , since 2020 she has been teaching theatre in private Secondary Education. During the period 2019-2024 she served as Artistic Co-curator (together with E. Moleski and G. Karaoulis) of the teenage theater platform "New Actions on a Desert Island" at the Apothike Theater, THOK.

Eleni Zanou is a graduate of the Department of Philosophy, Pedagogy and Psychology (FPP) of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (1997-2001). She holds a master's degree in language learning with the help of technology from the Cyprus University of Technology (2018-2020). In Greece (2001-2007) she worked as a performer of educational programs at the Greek Children's Museum and as an animator at children's events. In Cyprus, she works as a philologist in the public sector while also staging school theater performances, participating with her students in various educational/creative programs and training in seminars on alternative ways of teaching history, the use of technology and theater in education (2008 to date). She also participates in amateur theater groups (2001 to date).

Organizers

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