PROPS GEHEN RAUS

“PROPS go out” finds out: In a collective process, children between the ages of 9 and 12 write their own play, decide on stage design, costumes, music and public relations - and direct professional (adult) actors* on the stage of the GRIPS Podewil. In the decades-long tradition of co-determination at the GRIPS Theater, the decision-making power of the children is thus expanded in this project. 

Last season, the GRIPS Theater was already examined by the actors: Which play styles and children's performances do they find exciting? What works well for them, what doesn't? Through their own examination of the theater and its elements, they sharpen their view, form their own ideas into test balloons and thus open up the stage of the GRIPS Podewil for the stories and aesthetics of the young theater makers. They are accompanied by adults as they conquer the theater. At the start of the 24/25 season, we are in the middle of this journey, with 60 children developing stage elements, (moving) text and music during the fall vacations. Between detective stories, cyborgs and unfair teachers, there are many problems that the project participants want to tackle: Selfish adults play with the children's future, nasty classmates make learning difficult and the spider in the bedroom keeps some of them awake. Bullying plays just as much a role in the experiences and stories as racism, queer hostility and sexism. From this large group of theater makers, a smaller production team will start the development phase of the play in January 2025. They will repeatedly engage in negotiation processes with the adult actors and the project team: For their right to co-determination and a production directly from the children's perspective.