From November 2014 the Milos Experimental Stage, together with the “Tora Paizoume!” Workshop for Theatre Creation and the Development of Emotional Intelligence, ran a psycho-educational programme for teenagers aimed at developing emotional intelligence through theatre-making, led by psychologist and actor Mary Logotheti. Over the programme’s sessions (6 weekends) the teenagers wrote, prepared and presented, with remarkable success, their own show with their own take on the burning issues of adolescence. The result was so interesting and encouraging for teenagers and parents alike that we decided to continue it this summer with five three-day seminars leading to a new show created by the teenagers.
Seeing how positive this psycho-educational process has been for the teenagers, the Board of the Milos Experimental Stage believes it should be extended to primary-school children too, drawing the island’s children into a creative and exciting activity.
The aim is to create a piece of theatre through the collective processes of Play, Storytelling, Themed Discussion and Theatrical Improvisation. Using theatre as our vehicle, and drawing inspiration both from the richness of myth and from everyday life, we will try to open a path for children towards a real connection with knowledge of the world, of themselves and of the people around them. We will call on imagination, body, reason and emotion; we will talk, learn, play and improvise, aiming both to bring the children into contact with this magical world and with each other, and to support their socialisation and psychosocial development.
The Theatre Creation Workshop starts in early July and runs for 15 three-hour sessions (3 sessions a week for 5 weeks).
Interested parents can contact Katerina Berdologou on 6942 475166.
A few words about the idea
Combining the social sciences and humanities with the art of theatre led us to create a distinctive programme that aims to move body, mind and soul together, recognising that they are indivisible. This experiential approach to learning is a powerful educational tool (cognitive, emotional and physical) and also an effective way of preventing and addressing learning difficulties, problem behaviour and psychosomatic illness, as it contributes to the healthy, overall development of the individual’s personality.
The programme is built around the theory of Emotional Intelligence, and our tools come both from the methods of Physical-Creative Theatre and from Body Psychotherapy (W. Reich). The aim is, on the one hand, to develop children’s ability to recognise, name and manage their emotions, to enrich their ways of expressing themselves and communicating, and to become aware of their physical selves; and on the other, to train them in the basic principles of physical-creative theatre and the teamwork it involves.
Emotional Intelligence means “the ability to recognise, understand and control one’s own emotions. It is also the ability to recognise and understand the emotions of the people around us and to handle effectively both our own emotions and our relationships with others.” Developing Emotional Intelligence also means developing skills that are essential in all human relationships: perception, self-control, understanding other people’s feelings and views, respect for differences in how people feel about things, ways of resolving conflicts and problems, cooperation, personal responsibility, meeting commitments, self-awareness and self-acceptance.
Theatre-making through Physical/Creative Theatre is a process aimed at guilt-free expression, discovering ourselves and each other, the joy of creating and achieving a goal, and experiential learning: we learn best by doing, by getting involved. Theatre games, exercises, discussions and the other group processes and tools call on both reason and imagination and put participants into different roles. Although drama games are not therapy, they do have therapeutic qualities, helping both to identify and to address learning difficulties, aggressive or withdrawn behaviour, communication difficulties and more. Finally, they are a powerful means of prevention, with a particular emphasis on the link between body and emotion and on the importance of emotion and its expression for human health and development. We draw our material from personal stories, true stories, fairy tales, myths and plays.