3Place – Performing arts as the third place for the young audience

3Place is a 3-year cooperation project led by Scenekunstbruket (NO) with affiliated entity Kloden theatre (N), alongside Junges Ensemble Stuttgart (DE) and Divadlo Drak (CZ) seeking to develop spaces for performing arts the young audience recognizes and validates as a place for them. 

In 3Place, the partners will look at the sociological theories of Third Place, not only as a physical location, but also as a social and an imaginary space of an art experience. 

This creates a framework for developing the performing arts more relevant to young people’s lives, to be a place they choose to meet and feel at home. In this project the theory of third place will be a concept for building a relation to the performing arts. 

Third place is defined as a safe place where individuals gather to share a common purpose, engage in creative expression, and develop a sense of belonging. How can we lower the threshold for interest for the young audience, especially groups who as today don’t see the performing arts experience being for them?

Through three subtopics the project will explore the idea of a third place together with the young audience itself, artists, and other professionals in the performing arts sector.

• 3Place physical: How to create or transform a physical space in which the young audience feels at home and included?
• 3Place artistic: How to create an art experience in which the young audience feels at home and included?
• 3Place involve: How do we involve the young audiences in a way they feel represented?

Each topic has a year-long focus with a camp, a festival visit, digital workshops and ongoing field work in each organisation and their community.

3Place will connect artists and audiences and develop different methods to make the experience of performing arts a place to belong, away from home and school – a third place. The project will connect artist development, audience development and area development, and will include organisations, artists and places that explore different ways of participation and cooperation.

The partners in this project are established structures with long term ambitions on making an impact in their societies through performing arts. They are experienced in working towards a young audience in different ways and share an urgency to develop their physical spaces and relation to the young. Through the collaboration they seek to exchange and share knowledge to develop new methodology useful in our future work, taking advantage of the different structural, cultural and political situations of their organisations. Their spaces offer the opportunity to become an important hub for both a young audience and theatre makers.

First camp – Camp Involve at Junges Ensemble Stuttgart

During spring 2023 the partners will come together with teens in Stuttgart for a 3 day long camp, exploring the topic of involvement. Two teens from Norway and two teens from Czechia will also travel and take part in the camp.