DIRECTORS IN TYA – An International Exchange, known globally also as the “International Directors’ Seminar”, takes place every other year. It addresses directors as independent artists in the field of TYA and it is open to all genres and forms of performing arts for young audiences.

In 2023 DIRECTORS IN TYA – An International Exchange will take place from June 18-25th 2023 at Hessisches Landestheater Marburg (HLTM).

In 2023 the idea of hope and the way we actively construct our approach to the world around us will be the starting point of our work. It is inspired by the motto the host theatre has chosen for their season 2022/2023:

CONSTRUCTION HOPE – KONSTRUKTION HOFFEN

We use hope as a strategy to give us the courage we need to encounter the present and the potential futures we see. We decide to hope. We construct an idea of hope as a possibility, as an experiment, as an acknowledgment of not-knowing. We use hope as a basis for optimism, as an impetus for a better future. We need hope to deal with disappointments, doubts and failures on the way. While we construct a world around us we see a multitude of possibilities. The process is also an attempt of creating order. We wish, design and calculate and – again – we hope for the things we dream of to be or become real.

Children are true enthusiasts when it comes to constructing and building things. They concentrate hard and they compete with others in their ambitions to build higher, better or differently. They also accept failure and the necessity for a new start. In TYA, our perspectives and the children’s perspective meet in art.

We invite directors to reflect on the way we construct different worlds on stage and how the idea of hope moves us and our audiences forward.

A full week is dedicated to an exchange about directing in the performing arts for young audiences. You can meet other directors from all over the world, share your ideas, learn from other professionals and experience TYA in Germany.

We will work in small groups that provide enough space and time to work practically and from different perspectives. Theatre performances by the host theatre and other companies in Marburg as well as leisure activities will complete the week’s schedule. The working language of the seminar is English.

ASSITEJ Germany and HLTM will bear the costs for accommodation, catering, theatre tickets and leisure activities for all participants. In general, we will assume that travel costs will be paid either by the participants themselves or by their respective national centre of ASSITEJ.