Theatre happens on stage, of course, but also in between. Through asking questions, through following thoughts, trying out and retelling stories. Here’s where our education programme comes in. In workshops, talks, school projects and participatory formats, we make encounters off stage happen!

How does a theatre festival sound in the ears of young people? funk is Graz’s first ever festival radio station developed by pupils. In guided workshops, the young participants learn how to talk and write about theatre, try out journalistic formats and gather insights into artistic professions. They plan, produce and moderate their own shows out of ‘Wilma’, our caravan outside the festival centre on Ortweinplatz, conducting interviews, capturing voices, atmospheres and thoughts, going live or producing features. funk makes the festival audible, tangible and polyphonic by tapping into young perspectives.

Immediately after the performances for school classes, their key themes and topics will be discussed in more depth, not just by talking about them with the artists but also by experiencing them – playfully, through dance, music and shared reflection. In addition, to prepare for each show, classes will be handed a portfolio including impulses and hands-on exercises that are easily integrated into lessons.

In an interactive workshop on ‘Identity & Diversity’, students of grades 8 through 12 will tackle matters of privilege and prejudice through play, performance and reflection. With no right or wrong answers, the workshop is centred around exchange of views, changes of perspective and the exploration of pesky greys. An open space allows experimentation, challenging questions and heated discussions about the norms and values that inform our opinions, about how tolerant we really are and about the differences between tolerance and acceptance. How is prejudice born and how visible is diversity, in particular queerness, in our society?

The project ‘The Other System’ works like a vending machine for decisions – big and small ones as well as the kind of decisions one tends to put off for as long as possible: Tea or coffee? Start now or later? Intervene or keep mum? And this is how it works: You enter a problem, select a process of decision-making and leave the next step to the system. The result may feel right, or weird, or surprising. Sometimes you will want to veto it. And if you don’t like it? Well, build another system!