European theatre through Romeo and Juliet Erasmus Project

Project Title

European theatre through Romeo and Juliet

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for Schools Only

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Creativity and culture; Teaching and learning of foreign languages

Project Summary

After taking part for the first time in a Comenius project, we decided to become the leaders of a project about drama. We made the following assessments : a gap between so-called high culture and youth culture, the small proportion of youngsters in the artistic field, little room for non formal teaching in our pedagogical practices, the lack of motivation of our students for learning a foreign language, their lack of knowledge about cultural venues, about the history of theatre, be it French or European, their low self-esteem and above all their lack of tolerance towards other people due to poor knowledge of their cultures. We therefore made the decision to work on Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, because first of all, it is one of the only plays that has been translated in every language and furthermore, it is a play dealing with issues which are still very relevant today and which reflect some of our initial assessments.
Our aims were therefore to reduce the gaps by showing that, whatever the form and the era, the values conveyed have remained the same. We also made a point of having the play be performed in front of an audience, in the real conditions of a show. Working on drama has therefore enabled us to demonstrate that non formal learning doesn’t stand in the way of formal learning but on the contrary, complements it and even makes formal learning easier. Moreover, as all the target students were involved in a common project around a common work of art, where speech was at the heart of the various artistic approaches, the situation of communication was established straightaway and allowed students to overcome the language barrier, and during the mobilities, we were able to notice this willingness to communicate with other people, from the students as well as from the accompanying teachers. Another goal was to create or reinforce partnerships with the creation field and to make sure students would get to grips with their culture and the cultural heritage of their country as well as with the culture and cultural heritage of the other European countries. This project strengthened the students’ self-confidence thanks to team work during which other people, belonging to the same nationality or not, brought their skills and their drive into the common project. Difference was thus no longer an obstacle but an added value, which enabled all of us to put to the test the European motto : « United in diversity ».
The main activities that were carried out around this project were the following ones (they can all be seen on the website juliet-romeo.eu): a logo was made (it was used on the website from the start), postcards were created which included a quotation from Shakespeare’s play illustrated in a contemporary way (see ‘free figures’ tab on the website juliet-romeo.eu). These postcards were sent to the different countries and thus allowed students to keep exchanging. Posters were made for the final performances (see ‘the play’ tab). Very precise requirements had to be fulfilled during each mobility : an acting training session for the target students, the visit of one or more cultural venues in the host country, an outing to see a show chosen from the cultural offer in the host country, an exhibition on the history of the theatre of the host country created by the students of the said country, the discovery of the city and of the daily life of their exchange partners (see ‘mobilities’ tab). One week was devoted to rehearsing and then performing the juliet@romeo play, adapted from Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare. The performances took place in France at Jean Vilar theatre in Saint-Quentin (see ‘the play’ tab) and were filmed in order to create a DVD.
Each activity was carried out and we can emphasize the high quality of each of these achievements, which are visible on the juliet-romeo.eu website. The parents and the audience were for that matter really impressed by the performances : they didn’t expect such high standards.
Students and teachers had to make use of and highlight their creativity, they had to work in teams using their mother tongue as well as English and they realized how important pulling together is for such a project. The teachers involved were able to work in multidisciplinary teams and also discovered other ways to teach thanks to the various mobilities. Of course we have all improved our language skills and now have a much less inhibited attitude to speaking a foreign language. We have all learnt about the history of the theatre of the participating countries.
Our partner schools and cultural partners have but one wish : turning these partnerships into long-term ones.
Website of the project : juliet-romeo.eu

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 143827,98 Eur

Project Coordinator

LYCEE GENERAL ET TECHNOLOGIQUE CONDORCET & Country: FR

Project Partners

• Colegio San José ss.cc.
• GENIKO LYKEIO KASTRITSIOU
• Ludwig Erhard – Schule
• LICEO SCIENTIFICO G. DA PROCIDA