What is YET?

Youth, Europe and Theatre (YET) is a theatre and language project in which pupils and teachers from different countries (The Netherlands and Finland) work together to produce two performances. The main goal of this exchange is to create a strong bond between the participants by jointly producing a performance, which will help to break through the language barrier and gain an insight into other people’s cultures and heritage.

This year the participants are from the Teylingen College Leeuwenhorst from the Netherlands and Oulun Suomalaisen Yhteiskoulun lukio from Finland. The project is held in Oulu. For two weeks, the Dutch guests will be hosted by the Finnish, who will provide host families to ensure cultural exchange.

There are two teams, of which both produce a performance of their own. The Dutch and Finnish pupils are blended into the groups. By jointly producing a performance, pupils have the possibility to communicate through speech, gesture, movement, art, video and music etc. This makes it easier to break through the ice and the language barrier, while also making new friends and learning more about each other‘s culture. The performances are based on the life of Tove Jansson picked out by the host–country. This way the project will also familiarize the pupils with the other country’s music, poems and art. Making the performances and living and experiencing things tightly together for two weeks all create a strong bond between the participants. It also helps to gain an insight into other people’s cultures and heritage and creates a more open, less prejudiced attitude towards other cultures and strengthens the sense of European citizenship.