• Fieldwork: The need for space

    17-year-old Theodor, William, and Dominic, students at Kuben Upper Secondary School, recently completed a placement at Scenekunstbruket and Kloden Teater. During their time there, they worked extensively on creating films and interviews about upcoming performing arts productions. They also attended three different theater performances at three different venues in Oslo: Vega Scene, Det Norske Teatret, and Det Andre Teatret. In connection with the EU project 3Place, they discussed how a theater can become relevant to them and, with the construction of Kloden Teater underway, how they would like to be welcomed there. Their experiences varied, but they all walked away with strong impressions.

    Theodor has always liked improvisation and was particularly excited about Maestro Impro at Det Andre Teatret. “I didn’t even know that improv was theater,” he said. “For me, it has always been more about entertainment.” He found the first performance they attended, Kvit norsk mann, to be very different from anything he had seen before, while Unlimited Voidwas “definitely SOMETHING – but I don’t know if there are words for it.”

    William remembers Unlimited Void best, simply because it was “completely insane.” However, it was Kvit norsk mannthat left the biggest impression on him. “It addressed important and relevant topics in an engaging way. Something about it just sticks with you,” he explained. He was already familiar with the book the performance is based on, as his Norwegian teacher in middle school was a big fan. When it comes to theater in general, his experiences during the placement have made him more open-minded. “I’ve never been against theater, but I see it in a slightly different way now,” he said, though he found it difficult to pinpoint exactly what had changed.

    For Dominic, this was not his first encounter with theater. He watched a lot as a child and had also attended performances with school before. “I’ve been to Det Norske Teatret before, and I really like it. The building is beautiful, the lobby is warm and inviting because of the lighting and all the wood – it just feels cozy,” he said. Unlimited Void made an impression, particularly because of the way it explored artificial intelligence and love. “Before the performance started, we wrote about what love meant to us in a book, and at first, I thought it was unrelated. But then it turned out to be exactly what the play was about,” he explained. He also felt that the presence of anime culture in the performance made sense. “Anime can take you out of the real world and give you a break – it felt right that the performance had that element.”

    Sketch of possible café and lobby area at coming Kloden teater by Dominic.

    Dominic made a sketch of how he imagined the lobby and café area could look like at the future Kloden theater. He felt it was important that the seats and lounge area was visible from the outside, to give passers by a reason to go in. To make it warmer, cozier and with better acoustics he suggested to add a curtain seperating the café from the lobby and entrance area.

    The theater buildings they visited also shaped their experiences. Theodor described Det Norske Teatret as “beautiful and fancy,” while Det Andre Teatret had a more relaxed and down-to-earth vibe. William liked the grandeur of Det Norske Teatret: “It feels classic and elegant,” he said, but added that Det Andre Teatret was still the coziest of them all. Dominic agreed that the atmosphere in theater buildings plays an important role. “For people to feel welcome in a theater, I think it has to feel homey,” he said, pointing out a challenge with the area around their school. “Kuben students often feel that Kuben is isolated. There’s nothing nearby – no places to buy food, nowhere to just hang out and have a good time. During breaks, we order food because there aren’t any other options.” The lack of quiet or private spaces at school also affects how students experience their daily lives. “People don’t really hang out in the library because it’s open and not quiet. There’s a long line in the cafeteria, and it’s really noisy upstairs in the library,” Dominic explained. He wishes for a place that feels more relaxed: “I would love some kind of cozy den. Something homely.”

    Making theater a natural part of everyday life takes time. Theodor believes that a theater near the school will at first feel unfamiliar, but it’s about letting it grow into the environment. “People need to talk about it, get used to it,” he said. “Those who enter Kuben through the main entrance don’t see Kloden Teater – they don’t go that way. That’s something that needs to be solved.”

    As their placement comes to an end, all three agree that it has been a great experience. They have seen theater in new ways and perhaps gained a broader perspective on what theater can be.

  • Digital Workshop #6: A Shared Space for Reflection, Creativity and Future Thinking


    How can digital formats support young people’s engagement in theatre across borders? Digital Camp #6 gathered 21 participants from the 3Place network in a flexible online workshop that combined reflection, creativity and knowledge sharing — building bridges between a physical camp experience and future artistic practice.

    Reflecting on the Camp experience

    Digital Camp #6 functioned as a follow-up to the in-person Camp at DRAK Theatre, creating space to reflect on shared experiences and collect key insights. Through short, task-based activities, participants revisited moments from the Camp, discussed what worked well, and identified areas for further development.

    By starting with simple prompts such as “I remember…”, the group created a collective memory archive that helped preserve experiences while opening conversations about learning and improvement.

    From ideas to future practice

    The workshop encouraged participants to think beyond reflection and towards application. Tasks invited them to imagine future roles within theatre, explore possible career paths, and identify ideas from the Camp they could adapt and implement in their own theatres and cities.

    This focus on transferability strengthened the sense of a shared European learning space, where practices and perspectives move across institutions, cities and countries.

    Fast creativity in a digital-native format

    A highlight of the workshop was the rapid creative task “New year, new show!”. In just 13 minutes, participants imagined a performance they would like to see in 2025 and created a digital poster using their surroundings. By working quickly and intuitively, they produced tableau vivants, added titles, subtitles, target age groups and genres — embracing a playful, low-threshold approach to artistic creation.

    Accessibility through flexibility

    The workshop was conducted primarily through a WhatsApp group, allowing participants to join from wherever they were — at home, at work, on the move or in a café. The camera-free format and flexible participation responded directly to young people’s everyday realities, lowering barriers and supporting inclusive engagement.

    This approach demonstrated how digital tools can sustain connection and collaboration between physical gatherings.

    Looking ahead: the final year of 3Place

    In the closing task, participants created a wishlist for the final year of the 3Place project, sharing hopes and ambitions for what they want to explore, develop and experience together. These reflections will inform the project’s final phase and future activities.

    A digital third place

    Digital Camp #6 showed how performing arts can continue to function as a third place — a shared space for exchange, creativity and belonging — even when participants are geographically apart. The positive feedback highlights a strong interest in repeating this digital format as part of future collaboration.

  • Video: Camp Artistic at Drak


    During Camp Artistic 2024, hosted by Drak Theatre in Hradec Králové, young participants and professionals from Czechia, Germany and Norway came together for four intensive days of performances, workshops, conversations and social formats. The camp became a lived example of how performing arts can move beyond presentation and into a shared, temporary – yet meaningful – third place. D3.2 ReportDrak_CampArtistic

    The value of physical encounters

    Personal, in-person meetings are a cornerstone of the 3Place project. Camp Artistic 2024 brought together 47 participants – young people and adult professionals – from the project partners Norsk Scenekunstbruk, Junges Ensemble Stuttgart (JES) and the host institution Drak Theatre.

    The aim was twofold: to share concrete artistic practices developed for and with young people, and to create a safe and inspiring environment for exchange, reflection and new connections. Rather than functioning as a conventional professional gathering, the camp was structured as a holistic experience, where artistic work, dialogue and informal social time were deeply interconnected.

    Antigone as a shared point of reference

    The camp’s common artistic starting point was Drak Theatre’s production Antigone, aimed at audiences aged 13+. This contemporary reworking of the classical tragedy addresses questions of authority, responsibility and generational conflict – themes that resonated strongly with the young participants.

    The performance was followed by a Kitchen Table discussion, a format developed to foreground young voices in conversations about theatre. With international participants around the table, the discussion gained new depth and perspective, clearly demonstrating young people’s capacity to engage as equal and reflective contributors to artistic dialogue.

    Young people performing for young people

    Two evenings during the camp were dedicated to performances created by and with young people at Drak Theatre and Junges Ensemble Stuttgart. Together, these presentations formed a small, temporary mini-festival within the camp.

    Although the two productions differed significantly in format and production conditions, they shared a strong thematic approach: historical or literary figures were used not as subjects for interpretation, but as starting points for young creators’ own artistic reflections on contemporary life, identity and the future. The performances generated strong engagement and confirmed the importance of including concrete artistic work – not only discussion – in international exchange formats.

    Workshops as shared artistic practice

    The creative workshops offered participants hands-on experience with Drak Theatre’s artistic and pedagogical approaches. Across the weekend, participants worked with:

    • Author’s dramaturgy, transforming familiar narratives into original artistic concepts
    • Mask work, exploring identity, materiality and visual expression
    • Object and animation practices, using everyday materials as carriers of meaning and storytelling

    For the host organisation, the workshops also functioned as a testing ground: methods were explored together with young people and professionals from different cultural contexts, providing valuable input for future artistic and educational development.

    Social formats as artistic infrastructure

    The camp’s social events – from Gala Night to the Underground Party with open-mic sessions – were not peripheral activities, but central to the experience. These formats helped dissolve hierarchies, build trust and encourage spontaneous self-expression.

    In particular, the open-mic moments demonstrated how quickly a sense of safety and ownership can emerge when young people are given space to share their own artistic expressions on their own terms. The strong participation and mutual support during these evenings became some of the clearest manifestations of the camp as a lived third place.

    Place, city and collective closure

    Through guided tours of the theatre and the city, as well as participation in Drak Theatre’s newly developed audiowalk, the local context of Hradec Králové became an active part of the programme. The camp concluded outside the city at the alternative cultural venue NUUK, where a shared evening around the fire, music and informal conversation provided a strong sense of collective closure.

    What we take forward

    Camp Artistic 2024 has generated several key insights that will inform the continued work within 3Place:

    • Physical gatherings remain essential for building trust, artistic depth and long-term relationships.
    • Young people strengthen both relevance and quality when included as active contributors rather than passive target groups.
    • Artistic works should be embedded in professional exchange, not only discussed at an abstract level.
    • Social space is a prerequisite for artistic space, not a supplement to it.

    The experiences and reflections from the camp are still being processed and will feed into both the final phase of the 3Place project and the partners’ future programmes. The shared ambition remains clear: to develop performing arts for young audiences as a lasting third place – not only within projects, but as an ongoing artistic and institutional practice.