EDAI pairs with Bots&Barrals for the play for families “Famílies a escena!”

“Famílies a escena!” (Families on Stage!’) is an artistic and cultural outreach project created and developed by the international Catalan theatre company Bots & Barrals and EDAI. The cultural and artistic interest of the project lies in its focus on children aged 6 to 12 and their families, using participatory theater as a means to engage and connect families in a process of artistic creation and social progress.

The show is pioneering in terms of family involvement in creating a performance. It’s not just the children or the adults who participate; artistic creation takes place within family units. ‘Families on Stage!’ is based on the practice of Forum Theatre, created and promoted in Brazil by the writer, director, and dramatist Augusto Boal. It involves a series of exercises and participatory dramaturgical practices with the aim of promoting social change.

The objectives of the show were:

• To encourage children to use resources such as body and verbal expression, creativity, or imagination to stimulate the expression of emotions.
• To make verbal expression an inclusive and facilitating means of communication, even if it is not a common language.
• To introduce Forum Theatre, a social theatre technique born in Brazil by dramatist Augusto Boal, through the performance.
• To use theatre as a facilitating element for cultural integration.
• To provide a meeting point for different languages to facilitate comprehensive communication and serve as a channel for learning through ethics and values.
• To help children improve and reinforce their interpersonal skills with peers and family members.
• To generate satisfaction in family bonds through participatory activities.