Theatre and
International Theatre Lab Festival
“Perciò va’ pure a scuola per non far scoppiar casino
Studia matematica per comprarti un violino
Impara a lavorare il legno
Ad aggiustar ciò che si rompe
Che non si sa mai nella vita
Un talento serve sempre”
Eugenio Finardi
1- Presentation
Teatro Lab is a theater festival dedicated to young student-actors, participants in theater workshops within schools or associations throughout the Italian and European territory, it is an event that hosts international productions or co-productions every year.
Since 2012, Teatro Lab has been hosted by Franco Tagliavini Theater in Novellara and supported by the entire Municipal Administration, as one of the main cultural events in the Novellara area on an annual basis.
The Festival has been organized and coordinated by Etoile European Theater Center for more than twenty years; before arriving at the current “Teatro Lab” format in 2010, the international theater festival for schools was known as “Il Teatro (Va …) a Scuola”. Over the years there have been more than 130,000 young people involved. The event was born in Reggio Emilia, over the years it has been hosted by various municipalities, passing through Torrita di Siena (SI), Castelnovo ne ’Monti (RE), Guastalla (RE) and Novellara (RE).
Despite the evolutions of the format, the primary objective of the Festival has always been to create an environment of artistic exchange between school and theatrical realities, in order to establish an active dialogue between the young actors participating in the event and the public composed of students of schools of different types and levels.
Teatro Lab thus becomes a place for shared theatrical experiences, placing a strong emphasis on laboratory and research work that is the basis of theatrical practice.
The primary purpose of theater in schools is to educate students, using theatrical practice as an educational means with respect to a set of transversal skills of the individual.
Therefore, the participants in the festival experience multiple aspects within their experience: the possibility of acting on the stage of the Franco Tagliavini Municipal Theater, confronting an audience of young people; experiment with new theatrical techniques or moments of playful exchange, relating with young people from other schools and artistic realities during the moments of workshops or activities organized by the Festival management.
Teatro Lab wants to be a laboratory of the performing arts, not only in the artistic field, but also in the organization, coordination and cooperation, involving young people from the area alongside the direction of Etoile European Theater Center.
The Teatro Lab international festival is a fixed annual event for Novellarese citizens, since 2012 in March or April, Tagliavini theater opens its doors to this two-week event, which, thanks to the large influx of young groups and companies, becomes the fulcrum of Novellara’s cultural activities. Every year, the organizers imagine new strategies for growing the Festival, trying to create a context capable of reaching and involving the entire citizenry in the proposed activities.
Events of various kinds revolve around Teatro Lab, aimed at different targets, such as:
- theater performances by schools or associations hosted by the Festival, aimed mainly at school-age young people.
- appointments with guests or evening shows, dedicated not only to participants but to the entire citizenry. Over the years, prominent figures on the entire national and international cultural scene have been hosted on the occasion of the Festival.
- workshop and laboratory activities within the spaces of “Rocca della Cultura”, with guest teachers, intended for the actors of the Festival schools but at the same time usable as spectators by a much wider audience than just the participants.
- urban happenings or play-show activities, which have as main objective to introduce children from the host schools to local realities and to bring moments of theatricality in the streets of Novellara.
Over the years, a real “theatrical ecosystem” has developed around Teatro Lab, with a complex and branched structure that involves various realities within it.
In the first place it is essential to define that the basis of this ecosystem, as already reported, is the cooperation between the promoters of the event, which sees Etoile Centro Teatrale Europeo, as the organizing machine of the festival, in constant dialogue with the Municipality of Novellara. and the direction of the theater. By enlarging the mesh, in a non-hierarchical way, it is possible to highlight satellite systems that are articulated around the festival, such as:
- the relationship with commercial activities, which take on the role of sponsor and supporter of the event, adhering to proposals such as “The city goes on stage”, an activity that proposes to traders to set up their windows with elements of reference to the theme of the Festival.
- the relationship with schools: the young people of the Novellara schools are involved as an audience of the event, giving the opportunity to accustom young citizens to the languages of theatricality from the early years of their formation. Over the years, some classes of the Mario Carrara Institute in Novellara have been involved in school-work alternation courses, as the welcoming staff of the Festival, offering them the opportunity to experience the event from the inside with a practical role.
- the relationship with hotels and catering activities: the large influx of guests and participants in the Festival over the years has created the need to build a network with the catering and hospitality services present in the area to satisfy the numerical requests for meals and overnight stays.
- the relationship with citizens: an event of the importance of Teatro Lab located in the Municipality of Novellara becomes an opportunity for the community to get closer to the activities promoted by Franco Tagliavini Theater and to moments of cultural enrichment. Thanks to the involvement of local forces, the goal is to make the days of the Festival a participatory and enjoyable moment for all sections of citizens.
Teatro Lab format, consolidated over the years, in 2017 it was brought to Rossini Theater in Gioia del Colle (BA), giving life to the “Teatro Lab 2.0” event, organized by Sic! Progettazioni Culturali with the supervision of the Direction of Etoile European Theater Center and the Artistic Direction of Daniele Franci. The birth of this satellite Festival of Teatro Lab is undoubtedly an added value, not only for the event, but also for the organizational bodies involved, which take on an even more fundamental and strongly identifying role of Teatro Lab.
Teatro Lab from 2010 to 2019 counted more than 39,000 visitors and 3422 students involved on the scene and 386 students involved as organizational staff, seeing almost all the Italian regions and 6 European countries represented. For a total of nearly 1,900 training hours, 1,900 of technical work. More than 5,200 overnight stays and 6,500 meals were provided on the occasion of the Festival.
These are just some of the “useful” numbers to tell the extent of an event like Teatro Lab, which over the years has built a network of lasting relationships, as many of the students who participated in the Festival have maintained an active and constantly evolving contact. with the realities of Etoile, the Tagliavini Theater and the city of Novellara, recognizing the formative and human value of the experience.
2- Technical information
REPORT FINALE DEL FESTIVAL TEATRO LAB
TEATRO LAB – I partecipanti
Giorni di Festival/ Days of Festival | Scuole Selezionate/ Selected School | Associazioni/ Association | Regioni rappresentate/ Italian Reason rappresented | Studenti/ Students | Staff | Esperti di Teatro/ Theater Teachers | |
2010 | 13 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 219 | 18 | 2 |
2011 | 11 | 12 | 4 | 7 | 289 | 27 | 8 |
2012 | 14 | 20 | 3 | 10 | 579 | 46 | 11 |
2013 | 13 | 16 | 2 | 8 | 372 | 41 | 10 |
2014 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 258 | 25 | 6 |
2015 | 14 | 10 | 1 | 6 | 335 | 40 | 8 |
2016 | 14 | 15 | 0 | 12 | 392 | 42 | 13 |
2017 | 15 | 10 | 2 | 7 | 390 | 72 | 8 |
2018 | 14 | 12 | 0 | 8 | 250 | 68 | 9 |
2019 | 14 | 12 | 2 | 8 | 338 | 77 | 8 |
Tot. | 150 | 125 | 25 | 12 | 3422 | 386 | 83 |
TEATRO LAB – La formazione
Ore di Formazione/ Hours of Workshop | Ore lavoro Staff Tecnico/ Hours of Technical Work | Scuole coinvolte per formazione staff/ Number of schools involved for staff education | Scuole del Territorio in rassegna/ Local Schools Involved | |
2010 | 178 | 120 | 1 | 7 |
2011 | 130 | 112 | 2 | 1 |
2012 | 114 | 306 | 2 | 7 |
2013 | 100 | 155 | 2 | 2 |
2014 | 35 | 160 | 1 | 1 |
2015 | 39 | 150 | 2 | 2 |
2016 | 50 | 230 | 1 | 1 |
2017 | 166 | 158 | 2 | 2 |
2018 | 480 | 225 | 2 | 4 |
2019 | 575 | 230 | 2 | 2 |
Tot. | 1867 | 1846 | 17 | 29 |
TEATRO LAB – I partner
patrocini | adesione Presidente | partners | partners | partners artistical partners | |
2010 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 6 |
2011 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 5 |
2012 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
2013 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
2014 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 9 |
2015 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 6 |
2016 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 6 |
2017 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 5 |
2018 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 5 |
2019 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 6 |
Tot. | 36 | 2 | 59 | 53 | 62 |
TEATRO LAB – International Projects
progetti | paesi europei | istituti stranieri | studenti | famiglie | ore di | |
2010 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 30 | 21 | 140 |
2011 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 55 | 30 | 146 |
2012 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 43 | 26 | 144 |
2013 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 38 | 30 | 142 |
2014 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 45 | 25 | 154 |
2015 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 37 | 24 | 142 |
2016 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 48 | 13 | 164 |
2017 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 42 | 12 | 324 |
2018 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 48 | 15 | 168 |
2019 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 52 | 15 | 174 |
Tot. | 14 | 6 | 23 | 438 | 211 | 1698 |
TEATRO LAB – I servizi e la comunità
assoziazioni commercianti | alberghi affiliated hotels | pernottamenti/ overnight stays | pasti/ meals | scuole coinvolte | presenze | |
2010 | 1 | 5 | 113 | 240 | 7 | 2287 |
2011 | 1 | 5 | 553 | 540 | 7 | 2328 |
2012 | 2 | 6 | 848 | 798 | 8 | 7313 |
2013 | 2 | 6 | 506 | 479 | 8 | 3194 |
2014 | 1 | 3 | 502 | 490 | 6 | 3327 |
2015 | 1 | 3 | 560 | 1100 | 6 | 3208 |
2016 | 1 | 6 | 571 | 984 | 6 | 4852 |
2017 | 2 | 6 | 640 | 960 | 6 | 4796 |
2018 | 2 | 6 | 458 | 471 | 6 | 3856 |
2019 | 1 | 4 | 475 | 485 | 5 | 4136 |
Tot. | 2 | 6 | 5226 | 6547 | 8 | 39297 |
3- Reports
4- Material Produced
Professore Ettore Piazza
Retired school principal. He graduated in Classics with honors, academic embrace and publication of the thesis. Winner of the presidency competition, where he was first in Italy. Lecturer in the courses for the teaching of Literary Subjects in Parma, General Didactics at the University of Macerata. Teacher in training courses for Teachers, Managers, Technical Inspectors. Director of the Liceo “Ulivi”, where he opened the first interprovincial computer science laboratory and of Liceo “Romagnosi” in Parma, of the Institute “Deledda” in Modena “, of Professional Institute” Jodi ” in Reggio Emilia. Member of the design group of the Social Services Address. He founded and chaired the Consortium of Professional Institutes, made up of 32 Institutes from 9 Regions, opening up to numerous European Projects, from the Certification of Skills to placements in the company, from Motor Education to Theater, building a dense network of international relations. Moving to the Regional Management, he was appointed Technical Manager, with responsibility for the Professionalising Areas, Adult Education, Work School Alternation, Integration with Vocational Training, coordinating the 9 Provinces also carrying out the position of Manager of the Provincial School Office of Rimini. He collaborates with numerous IRSAEs, with L’INDIRE, with ISFOL, with the European Commission. It publishes essays from teaching to tourism, from economics to school-work alternation.
Birth of a project that goes beyond school
In a Professional Institute for Social Services, the first objective is social skills, the skills that put us in contact with others and with ourselves, allowing us to transmit thoughts and feelings, emotions and enthusiasms, fears and doubts, skills that they enable us to express who we are and what we would like to be.
The use of the word is also too central in school, forgetting that non-verbal communication covers more than 90% of the communicative universe, creating difficulties for those who belong to deprived realities or come to other countries.
We then start with the breath, which allows every movement of the body, transmitting emotions and concepts, at first difficult to transfer into words, which become more fluent with singing, while gestures and postures full of meaning grow with dance.
In the meantime, stories are represented with puppet theater and new plots are built, to get involved behind the scenes and then on stage, developing every professionalism necessary for the Theater in the School, creating masks, dresses, backgrounds and scenes, managing music and lights, from shadows to the enlarged reality.
In which subject is this activity evaluated? In all, from Humanities to Physical Education, without neglecting Mathematics and Physics, Science and Information Technologies.
To verify the result, one cannot be self-referential, as often happens, one must confront each other, knowing that one must always improve.
Students participate in the festival review, festivals are organized, borders are crossed, discovering unexpected harmony in the Europe of Projects, a path is offered to those who want to try it. Because by giving to others, you improve yourself every time.
All this has allowed many to acquire not only social but also professional skills, useful for forming cultural heritage for active citizenship.