Young talents conquer the stage: 9th Carinthian Youth Theater Festival!

Young talents conquer the stage: 9th Carinthian Youth Theater Festival!

Schloss Porcia, 9800 Spittal an der Drau, Österreich - The 9th Carinthian Youth Theater Festival took place between June 4 and 6, 2025 in Porcia Castle in Spittal an der Drau. This important event offers young people a platform to bring their thoughts, doubts, dreams and visions on stage. The ceremonial opening was accompanied by the mayor Marika Lagger-Pöllinger, the President of the Landtag Reinhold Rohr and Vice Mayor Angelika Hinteregger, while State Councilor Sara Schaar and City Councilor Lukas Gradnitzer handed over the prizes at the final event.

A central component of the festival is the award of outstanding services. The City of Spittal's award went to the CHS Villach theater club for the play "Struwwelpeter". In addition, the audience award to the ThTLOH theater was awarded the HTL Villach for their performance of "Lumpazivagabundus". In their speeches, Schaar and Hollauf emphasized the value of cultural youth promotion and the importance of theater as a place of self -questioning and looking for meaning.

diversity of topics and artistic discussion

The festival program included a variety of topics that were treated in different pieces. For example, “The Jasager” from the Steyr Impulse School of Steyr addresses, while “Andorra” confronted the anti -being and exclusion from the theater. The “Don Quijote” of Borg Althofen also illuminates the longing for another world. These topics reflect the challenges and questions that young people currently have to deal with.

A look at the development of the theater for young audiences

The roots of the modern theater for children and adolescents go back to the 1920s in Soviet Russia, where it was launched as part of educational policy for socialist education. As a result, numerous children's and youth theater were created that became social strength in the GDR. Theater was viewed not only as an artistic, but also as a pedagogical medium, which contributed to socialist consciousness formation.

In Germany, theater was attributed to a popular -building function in moral and political education. The 1968 student movement led to a new approach that appeared children and young people as active partners in theater work. Emancipatory children's theater, both in the west and in the east of the country, formed the image of the theater landscape and promoted the development of an independent drama for young spectators.

Today, the theater for young audiences is viewed as an integral part of the theater work that addresses global problems and cultural diversity. The focus is on promoting self -responsibility and self -determination, which underlines the relevance of such festivals such as that in Spittal an der Drau and illustrates the impressive opportunities for participating by young people.