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 Noordwijkerhout. For two weeks, the Finnish guests will be hosted by the Dutch, 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 Herman Brood 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.
The Dutch and Finnish teams are further divided into acting teams, Stage design teams, music team and the mediateam.
The stagedesign group is responsible for the production of costumes, props, and set pieces for the plays. They use a variety of materials to create the sets, from paper and cardboard to fabric and wood. They also collaborate with the acting teams and media team to create a cohesive look for the play and to ensure that the props and sets are in line with the vision of the play. They also work closely with the choreographer and director to ensure that the movement of the actors and actresses is in line with the look of the play.
The media team consists of four students, who report and photograph the different events happening during YET. They are responsible for creating content for the YET website and social media channels, such as YouTube and Instagram. The team works closely with the acting and art teams to capture the progress of the plays. They also work with the coordinators and the “Fab Five” to keep parents and other interested people up to date with the progress of the project.
The project has often been funded by Comenius, an organization that supports the co-operation of European schools. YET has also won several prizes: The 2nd prize in the National Education Award (Netherlands 1998) and twice the European Label Award (Italy 2007, Finland 2008).
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