The “Common Starting Point” A Performance of the Theatrical Groups of the Special Detention Center for Young People of Avlona (EKKNA) and the Center for Detoxification of Drug Prisoners Eleona – Thebes (KATKETH).
Stathis Grapsas is the inspirer of the Theatrical Workshops and the Personal Development Program based on the Theater. As Head of Workshops, he invited members of Fabrica Athens to support the preparation of the show.
The multiactive Art Group Fabrica Athens writes about the experience of the show “Common Starting Point”:
The meeting and the joint performance of the participating prisoners in the theatrical workshop of Thebes and Avlona, was an unexpected and unprecedented experience both for the audience and for the participants themselves.
Theatrical Group of EKKNA
The presence of the young people of Avlona was particularly imposing. It seems that the discipline and “limits” that characterize the theatrical education and the process they follow, reflect directly and liberatingly on their physical and mental maturity, while at the same time re-examining these concepts and their application in their own lives.
The perception, the generosity – the mood and the feeling of collectivity on the stage, but also in the preparation of the performance – rehearsal were remarkable. Features that may seem obvious, but which they never are. Nevertheless, in the case of these young men, the movement that has taken place in them through theatrical training, overcomes the signs of the experiences that each of them has.
Theatrical Group of KATKETH
On the other hand, the participants from the store in Thebes showed us, but also boldly confessed the importance of theatrical practice and exhibition. Through them they found and created space to rediscover themselves and accept it. An inner liberation that seems to have led them to set new goals and invest in dreams that are more about the “now” than the “moment” and the vague tomorrow. In addition, their contact with the children of Avlona was seen as a reminder to them and gave them the strength to support what they now dream of.
From a more artistic point of view, the participants, I dare say artists, were unusually present on stage. They were ready to serve their common purpose, setting aside anything selfish and transforming their personal testimony into a collective – humanitarian cause. In these invaluable three hours that were given to them for their joint rehearsal and performance and that were hardly claimed by their mentors – trainers – friends, the participants achieved something valuable. They were able to make a living testimony and tear down the invisible walls that existed between them and the spectators, revealing what unites them.
For the Personal Development Program based on the Theater
In addition, through the process of theatrical workshops and performance, educators and participants managed to find the theater a place in everyday life, as a sacred ceremony of a culture, and to go beyond the buying and selling of a product. Consciously or not, they produced morality with their transparent attitude and honesty on stage, and this is because when we face the darkness we can see the light that is always there.
In the end, the whole project was an occasion for union and the birth of questions. How can theater and art in general be a tool for life and how is life an inspiration and a tool for art? Why have we separated them? And how does art and specifically theater give life and find solutions, as nature always finds? K.o.k
