Instructor: Ivan Kristijan Majic
Workshop Title: Looking for less
Workshop Duration: 5 hours
Number of Participants: 20
Description: Theatre carries with it a ritual tradition, rooted in historical periods marked by individual ingenuity, spontaneous responses to the moment, and the power of improvisation. These unstructured periods sparked transformation, built new audiences, and gradually moved theatre from the realm of myth into everyday life.
This often overlooked force has significantly shaped the theatre as we know it today. Although it is less present in contemporary professional theatre, it remains a powerful element in educational work—where theatre is not the goal, but a means.
In educational settings—and in all forms of theatre in education—improvisation techniques represent a highly democratic form of work. They do not require prior knowledge or technical skills, allowing for a creative process on stage that is accessible and inclusive.
Today’s world is strongly defined by a focus on experience—so much so that we might even call it the “age of PR,” where the sphere of public communication has entered deeply into our private lives. The desire to live according to the image we project of ourselves significantly transforms both our identity and our social awareness.This workshop will highlight key moments from the history of theatre and puppetry where less structured, more experimental forms played a major role, with improvisation as a central element. These examples will serve as inspiration for exploring the creative potential of improvisation in various contemporary contexts.
In the practical part of the workshop, we will discuss how to select a theme and model tasks depending on the goals, structure, and limitations of your work. We will look at how improvisation techniques can be adapted for use with children, youth, individuals with special needs, amateur performers, or professionals.
The workshop is especially relevant for those who use theatre techniques in a cross-disciplinary context—beyond drama educators—such as teachers of various subjects, music educators, museum staff, or professionals working in tourism. Improvisation techniques form a flexible and coherent methodology, compatible with many other approaches, and as such represent a valuable tool in diverse fields of work.