The Erasmus+ Youth project Perfect life? offers young people in Greece and the Netherlands the opportunity to portray their experiences with performance pressure in their way. In June, a start was made on recruiting young people who wanted to participate in developing a theatre play about performance pressure. An important aspect of the project is that the group supervisors have complete freedom. They have to get their group together, arrange their rehearsal space, and plan their performance. It is up to them to do this as they see it. In this way, we will also be able to compare different approaches.
Elisabeth Saliba, the Dutch project coordinator, says, "We started by posting small posters on our Instagram stories about the project and approaching schools with a theatrical background by providing information about the project." For example, there are contacts with a dance academy and a theatre school. During the training seminar in Patras at the beginning of October, it was found that four teams have been formed in Greece on behalf of DAFNI KEK and two teams in the Netherlands on behalf of Participation in Diversity. The formation of two teams for the Netherlands is still pending, but will take place later due to changes in the coordination of the teams. The composition of the six teams is diverse, but that is what makes it so exciting.
I spoke to a few group supervisors and asked them how they had come up with the design of a scenario. Alina Biletska, leader of a Ukrainian-Greek group, says: "It was my idea, which was supplemented with details by the participants" The Dutch group leader Charlotte Velsen says: "We used themes that we discussed with the participants. We worked with activities such as creative writing and games to strengthen relationships and connect group members. Furthermore, some participants created videos and maps of ideas and inspiration". Maria Papadiamantopoulou adds: "The screenplay was developed through group discussions and creative activities, such as creative writing and storytelling. At the moment, the scenario is in draft and it will become more concrete during the next meetings." For Thomas Lookman’s group, the screenplay came from an idea he had for a short film. Yiannis Karoumpalos informs me that his team has created a kind of conceptual scenario, which needs to be further elaborated. The concept is the result of discussions and narratives of the young people in the group along with additional elements and details. Participants discuss concepts and translate their thoughts into images that will form the basis for the structure of the script. All texts and written or spoken formulations of ideas are collected and organized into a more compact structure.
The frequency with which the groups meet varies. The aim is to meet once a week, but this is not always possible. In the case of Greece, there are two groups in Patras and two in Athens. Yiannis's and Maria's teams, located in Patras, have already met three times and work together during the meetings. The teams of Alina and Nataliya, located in Athens, are also working together. Thomas and Charlotte's teams have met three to five times and try to rehearse together whenever possible. By doing a lot together, they try to enhance everyone's participation.
What are the stories in Perfect Life about? Alina's team is going to tell the story of how social media and social pressure affect our everyday life and turn it into a "nightmare". Charlotte's group will address the issue of boundaries in the face of materialism. Maria's group is thinking about approaching the issues of stress, anxiety, pressure and expectations. Thomas's group is looking at the tensions between father and son, the role of faith and religion and defining our own choices.
The estimated duration of the performances is between 15 and 30 minutes. Yiannis addresses: "Our performance will take the form of a short film. The duration will be 5 to 10 minutes. The short film that will be made will be based on the contrast between moments of perfection and imperfection". For all groups, the script is far from finished, but the concept has some interesting storylines and possible ways to be developed. Rehearsals will start soon and the performances will take place in the spring of 2025.
Jumbo Klercq