Capacity Building for the Inclusion of Theatre Artists
We Want More! invited theatre artists, with or without disabilities, from the European Union, Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia), Turkey and Ukraine, to join the international workshop “Capacity Building for Inclusion of Theatre Artists”, to take place from 12 to 16 September 2025, in Lisbon, Portugal, at Teatro São Luiz.
This international training course aims to improve the skills and competencies of theatre artists, promote equal opportunities and access to the market, and empower theatre directors and actors across the EU and beyond to include disabled people as performers, crew members, writers, and technicians. The programme takes a comprehensive approach to inclusion, with insights from external experts.
The workshop will run over five days, with sessions with professionals from a wide range of fields related to inclusion in the performing arts, as well as join discussions and debates focused on accessibility and inclusion in the arts.
The workshop will also serve as a space to exchange ideas and propose real actions for more inclusive artistic creation. Its conclusions will be gathered in a document with practical guidelines, to be shared publicly and made available to professionals in the field.
Program
Friday, September 12th
12h00
• Reception for participants
13h00
• Lunch
14h30
• Guided tour of Teatro São Luiz
Visit to the public areas and backstage, by Marta Azenha and Sofia Teixeira (Executive Producers, Teatro São Luiz)
• Did we arrive together?
How? With whom? For what? Practical session of performative creation Marco Paiva (actor, director, artistic director of Terra Amarela PT)
• We relax?
Caligula Morreu. Eu não/ Caligula is dead. I didn’t – film, co-production Terra Amarela (PT), Teatro Nacional D. Maria II (PT) e Centro Dramático Nacional de España (SP)
Saturday, September 13th
9h30
• Structural points of view
Exposure and questions with Aggie Dolan (Inclusive Practice Manager, Battersea Arts Center, UK)
13h00
• Lunch
14h30
• What it Means to Structure an Accessible Artistic Project?
Discussion and sharing of thoughts with moderators Guilherme Gomes (Artistic director, Teatro-Cine de Torres Vedras, director, playwright and actor PT) and Raquel André (actress and director PT)
Sunday, September 14th
9h30
• Disability Arts
Exposure and questions with Diana Niepce
In this training course, the content will focus on existentialism and live art of the disabled arts sector, where works are exhibited that sometimes focus on events involving sadomasochism, the Holocaust, body transformations, and violent performances.
13h00
• Lunch
14h30
• The Importance of My Identity
Discussion and sharing of thoughts with moderators Diana Niepce (dancer, choreographer and writer PT) and André Tecedeiro (poet and playwright PT)
Monday, September 15th
9h30
• Accessibility in Artistic Works – Mainstream Inclusion and Representativeness of Underprivileged groups in Theatre Production and Staging
Maria Inês Marques (Performing Arts, Theatro Circo – Braga PT), Vassilis Oikonomou (Artistic director, director and actor,THEAMA – Theatre for Disabled and non-Disabled People, Grécia GR), Gianfranco Berardi (actor, director, co-director, Barardi Casolari IT), Marko Potkonjak (artistic diretor, PLAVO Theatre SB) and Alice Azevedo (actress PT), Sara Borges (Mediation and Participation Program, Theatro Circo – Braga PT), participating moderator
13h00
• Lunch
14h30
• Focus Group: Mainstreaming inclusion and representativeness of underprivileged groups in theatre production and staging
Division into six groups, asking the stakeholders to give their point of view and opinion on the topics presented in the morning, based on their experiences.
Six groups with six moderators from different partners of WWM.
All together: participants, partners and stakeholders.
Sharing of the conclusions of the different groups, one speaker from each group and a moderator, open to all for interventions,
Tuesday, September 16th
9h30
• Summing up and shuffling: What is Access in Artistic Creation, anyway?
Exposure and questions with Maria Vlachou (executive director of the association Acesso Cultura PT
10h30
• What change means?
Discussion and sharing of thoughts with moderators Zia Soares (director and actress, PT) and Cátia Pinheiro (director and actress, PT)
13h00
• Lunch
14h30
“Agora Somos Nós” – Participants’ activity proposals