In addition to Holger Syrbe as project manager, some colleagues and employees who have gained experience and knowledge of AufBruch work and methods in numerous projects and workshops were able to take part in the trip: Lukas Maser, who has been working on AufBruch for some time as a technical employee and video -Filmer accompanies Hans-Jürgen Simon, who has played numerous roles in aufBruch external projects and realized his own projects with young people, as well as Mohamed Koulaghassi, who has also been part of the team as an actor for many years and has repeatedly supported us as a technical employee.

In Modena, the main focus was on exchanging experiences with the Italian project partners Teatro die Venti, who have been realizing theater projects in several prisons for 15 years, and the project partners UPSDA from Plovdiv and Jubilo from Wroclaw. Teatro die Venti also organized the Trasparenze Festival at the same time with numerous events with representatives of the local and Italian theater scene. Under Corona conditions, various special regulations had to be observed and the festival could not be carried out with the usual breadth and openness. But even under these adversities, an intensive program was put together and numerous artistic interventions, meetings and discussions took place in the venue around the theater. In addition to the theater, in which various guest performances were shown, an open-air stage was set up for concerts, and the food truck stood in the shade of the trees on the forecourt. 35 to 38 degrees were a challenge, but the best festival atmosphere flared up in the evenings.

After we saw a guest performance by young inmates from the Emilia-Romagna Prison Theater and a “storm” adaptation from the Teatro dei Segni on the first evening, the main event on the second day was the visit to the production “Odyssey” by the Teatro die Venti / Director: Stefano Te / on the program. We embarked on an odyssey with a bus from the theater through two prisons back to the starting point, where we were confronted with strong theater images in variously designed rooms. A puzzle was put together. The theater trip left a strong impression and showed us a very unique and intensive form of artistic work with prisoners. Of course, there were also numerous parallels and connections to our work, but it also became evident that the artistic quality of the work plays an immense role and that very different approaches and methods can produce excellent artistic results in the prison theater genre.

The next day we participated in the production of a radio podcast, the next points of the project work were discussed and in the evening there was a public discussion about the phenomenon, the specifics and the status of prison theater with numerous experts.

In addition to the intensive program, the culinary and cultural specialties in Modena were not neglected and were carefully examined and tested.

Overall TOP !!!