The Teatrão Group

The Teatrão theatre company, based at the Coimbra Municipal Theatre Workshop, has created the Bando à Parte: Culturas Juvenis, Arte e Inserção Social (Band Apart: Youth Cultures, Art and Social Integration) project, the aim of which is to use artistic and cultural activities – such as theatre, music, dance and the fine arts – to foster a culture of civic participation and social inclusion amongst young people.

Taking into account the multicultural and multi-social reality of contemporary urban contexts, the artistic activities will be used by the youths participating in this innovative project to develop their individual skills and aspirations, self-confidence and interpersonal relationships. The participants are between 14 and 18 years of age, some of them living in situations of risk or social exclusion in peripheral areas of Coimbra, particularly the city’s social housing estates: Bairro Fonte da Talha, Bairro Fonte do Castanheiro, Conchada, Bairro da Misericórdia/Loreto, Bairro da Rosa, Bairro do Ingote, Celas and Parque de Nómadas (Housing Training Centre for travelling people).

The main objectives of the project are to foster civic leadership, further development of relationships with the urban space, promote interculturality, advance artistic capacitation, create volunteering opportunities and prepare young people for being promoters of “Society Projects”.

The Teatrão project is being funded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Coimbra City Council, the Trampolim Project (part of the Escolhas Programme), the Social Studies Centre of the Faculty of Economics at Coimbra University, Espaço T (association for social and community integration) and the Escola Superior de Educação, Coimbra (Teacher Training College).