Theatre for Young Audiences

Course content.
Theater for young audiences is a forward-thinking field of theater and performance that is gaining increasing international significance. This minor provides insight into current movements and encourages you to independently develop transdisciplinary projects. You are invited to critically reflect on preconceived notions of childhood to generate your own artistic concerns and methods for new theater practices and forms. In this minor, you will engage in philosophical and political discussions with children while becoming aware of your own assumptions about or towards childhood. You will analyze performances and exchange ideas with artists. Guided by experienced practitioners, you will explore specific project development approaches, such as collaborative productions between adults and children. As a final project, you will present your concept sketch to a public audience at the international “Blickfelder” festival. 

The minor, offered by the Theatre discipline, is taught in German and Engiish and aimed at Bachelor’s students. It is open to all students and offered every two years.

Skills acquired in the course.
–  You can reflect on mental concepts of childhood, recognize adultism (adults discriminating against children), and transform it with targeted strategies
–  You learn to perceive children as an essential part of society and to initiate approaches for developing artistic projects in collaboration with them
–  You can describe and differentiate aesthetics and working methods of contemporary theater for a young audience
–  You can conceptualize the development and narrative structure of a project and realize it as a performance

Admissions requirements.
This minor is aimed at Bachelor’s students from all departments of the ZHdK and has no admission requirements. It is suitable for students who are willing to approach what seems familiar with openness and self-criticism and to experiment in an open-ended dialogue with others.
Additionally, you are characterized by the following:
–  a willingness to experiment
–  an interest in collaborative work
–  openness to questioning your own assumptions and attributions
–  the ability to reflect
–  independence and personal responsibility

Language skills required.
You need the following languages to take this minor:
–  German or English: to be able to follow a discussion
–  German: to actively participate in a verbal exchange
–  German: to understand a text
–  German: to write a text

Benefits of studying at ZHdK.
–  Performance Visits: You will gain insight into national and international perspectives on theatre for young audiences
–  Workshops: You will experiment with working methods and play styles of artists
–  Discursive Tools: You will learn approaches that enable philosophical and political discussions between adults and children, fostering a diversity of voices
–  Project Work: In small groups with other students, you will develop tryouts that will be showcased at the “Festival Blickfelder for Young Audiences”
–  Reflection: You will learn tools for self-inquiry and collective consultation

→ More information about this minor (PDF download)