Jeux Dramatiques – Youth Workshops: Making Space for Yourself Through Play

🌿 What is Jeux Dramatiques?

Jeux Dramatiques is a pedagogically grounded dramatic play method developed by theatre educator Léon Chancerel, inspired by Konstantin Stanislavski’s stage pedagogy. It was later adapted into an applicable model for children, youth and adult education by Heidi Frei, and enriched by Anna Halprin’s work on creative process and body awareness.

Today, it is used in many European countries, especially Germany and Belgium, within education, creative arts, arts pedagogy, psychosocial support and adult learning programs. It is recognized as an effective method for developing self-awareness, emotional regulation, empathy, creativity, spontaneity, social interaction and trust within groups.

🎭 Approach

• The focus is not on acting, but on experiencing.
• There is no performance, competition or expectation.
• No memorization or rehearsals are required.
• Participants experience the roles they choose through costumes they design using fabrics and accessories.
• The setting is prepared by the participants.
• A role can be a person, an emotion or even an image (such as a rock, a tree, or a being searching for light in the dark).

📌 Application Information

• Application deadline: 22 February 2026 - 18:00
• Apply here: forms.gle/tnrGQH5F1YTiuTtb6
• Format: In person
• Capacity: Limited

👥 Participation Requirements

• Young people aged 16–29
• No previous theatre or drama experience required
• Willingness to engage voluntarily and actively in the process
• The workshops will be held in person

🌊 28 February 2026 — The Anglerfish

Time: 11.00 - 12.50
Facilitator: Tuğba Cebe Talmacı

The “Anglerfish” workshop invites participants to explore how we inhabit roles shaped by others’ expectations and how we might step out of them within a safe play environment.

• Connecting with inner spaces through the metaphor of light and darkness
• Experiencing pause, change of direction and moving at one’s own pace
• Making visible the difference between “being the light” and “being yourself”
• Recognizing the distance between expectations and personal needs

Sometimes shining is exhausting, sometimes staying in the dark feels frightening… This workshop offers the experience of existing without the pressure to shine.

🐸 28 March 2026 — Two Frogs

Time: 12.30 - 14.30
Facilitator: Burcu Tuna

In the “Two Frogs” workshop, inspired by the story of two frogs, we explore together the image of “obstacles” in our lives. Are they truly outside of us, or voices growing within?

• Making obstacles visible through play
• Approaching challenging situations through imagery
• Experiencing resilience, courage and perspective
• Discovering how the same story can unfold in different ways

By the end of the process, participants experience how it is possible to approach obstacles not from a single viewpoint, but from multiple perspectives.

🎒 Why Join?

Because sometimes a metaphor can express more than a long conversation.

Because sometimes taking on a role allows you to look at your own story from the outside.

Because sometimes dimming the light helps you see yourself more clearly.

Play does not belong only to children. Play is a space for awareness, courage and transformation.

🌙 14 March 2026 — In Pursuit of a Dream

Time: 12.30 - 14.30
Facilitator: Alev Peşte

“In Pursuit of a Dream” explores a moment from the life of a young person caught between leaving and staying, experienced through the Jeux Dramatiques method.

• Connecting with the inner world of a young person searching for themselves
• Encountering the metaphors of the road, the traveler, the well and the tree
• Exploring similarities and differences between past and present
• Expanding the connections between needs, dreams and reality

The road can be hope or fear… The well: the courage to look within… The tree: the desire to root or to reach toward the sky…

🎧 4 April 2026 — Everyone Listens Through Their Own Filter

Time: 12.30 - 14.30
Facilitator: Figen Söylemez

This workshop explores how words travel, echo and transform as each person hears them through their own filter.

• Encountering different perceptions of speech, sound and silence
• Experiencing interpretation, meaning-making and communication through play
• Making different perspectives visible
• Becoming aware of one’s own filters while exploring ways of connecting with others’ worlds

The process concludes with an experience that opens space for empathy, awareness and deeper communication.