WWM Project Continued in Belgrade, in June 2026, with focus on Inclusive Theatre and Mental Health

On 10 June, the We Want More! (WWM) project continued in Belgrade with a focus group titled “Creating, Programming, and Sustaining Inclusive Theatre that Engages with Mental Health on Stage and Behind It.”

Held at the Miljenko Dereta venue, the event was organised by PLAVO Theatre (Serbia) and curated by Cultural Association EUTOPIA (Italy). It brought together project partners from FEDAPAS (Spain), ATER Foundation (Italy), THEAMA – Inclusive Theatre (Greece), Teatro São Luiz/EGEAC (Portugal), and SOMMERBLUT Cultural Festival (Germany).

Ana Rita Osório of Teatro São Luiz presented the day. The discussions were introduced by panellists Maša Jelić (Serbia), Marie Gottschalk (Germany), and Alessandro Ameli (Italy), and facilitated by WWM moderators João Romãozinho, Maria Dragatakis, Susanna Bellavigna, Juan Pablo Martin, Katharina Würzberg, and Alice Pennacchioni.

More than 30 participants from six European countries explored mental health as artistic material, how to support people creating artistic work, and ways to build communities around mental health and theatre. The focus group offered a space to share experiences and practices, work through challenges together, and build connections in inclusive theatre.

The focus group was organised to encourage participants to turn discussion into ideas for action. A central question was how theatre can engage with mental health without exploiting the experiences of those who have lived it. The programme also included an open rehearsal of Odyssey – An Inner Journey, an inclusive production developed within the project.

The next project meeting will take place in Athens in October 2026. as part of the We Want More! project, co-funded by the European Union through the Creative Europe Programme.