LaJoven:
theater for youth, by youth
Bridging the gap between youth and culture in Spain
The Fundación Teatro Joven (‘LaJoven’) is a national non-profit platform dedicated to training early-career performing arts professionals, collaborating with educators, and engaging youth audiences.
It develops empowering projects that promote social awareness of cultural diversity, discrimination, racism, and mental health.
The difficulties specifically faced by young people are being increasingly documented and discussed, with mental health issues a particular concern to many, including the teenagers themselves, their families and many within the wider society. Unfortunately, in a world dominated by mobile devices, and where racism, sexism and other discriminations continue to flourish, it’s not always easy to find ways to support and empower adolescents.
They are a group who are very aware of themselves and their peers, and experiencing change that can be confusing and upsetting.
Born from adversity
Fundación Teatro Joven was officially established in 2017, but it had already begun its activities in 2014, in response to a perceived crisis in Spain’s arts teaching system when a governmental reform made the arts subject optional in both primary and secondary education. At the time, the then Spanish Minister of Education, José Ignacio Wert, said “We must remove from the curriculum those subjects that distract students from what is important.”
The team also realized that theater offered content for both young children and adults, but there was a notable lack of performances that addressed the particular interests and issues of adolescents, such as violence, desire, friendship, and bullying.
These realities led them to create a program targeted at that age group, and driven by young theatre professionals. It was a rapid success, and demand rose in the first year. But they didn’t stop there. There was a realization that the people on stage didn’t mirror the people in the audience, in terms of ethnicity and diversity. As such, the RAZAS project was born, an initiative to encourage the participation of young people from different backgrounds in developing theater careers.
Artistry through a health crisis
As in so many spheres, from early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused an unprecedented crisis in both education and theater. Schools closed, forcing teachers to adopt distance-learning methods, while theaters shifted to online performances.
But once again, an extreme situation presented an opportunity: to create new educational and artistic content that could be shared online. In response, the LaJovenLIVE project was launched, to provide online theatrical content for education and culture, including training activities and recordings of short plays.
“LaJoven has premiered 25 productions that have traveled throughout Spain and been enjoyed by nearly 350,000 spectators – what [more] will we be able to achieve with such a structure?”
David Peralto, President of Teatro Joven Foundation
Reaching out from the stage
The pandemic also helped exacerbate one of the greatest challenges facing young people nowadays: mental health issues. Before COVID-19, an estimated 10% of Spanish children and 20% of adolescents suffered from mental disorders with potential lifelong consequences. After the pandemic started, there was an increase of 47% in mental disorders among adolescents, according to the Spanish Pediatric Association, with a proportional increase in self-harm and suicidal behavior.
Dr. Gabriel Rubio, head of the psychiatric department at Madrid’s Hospital 12 de Octubre has described the situation as a “perfect storm”, with reduced space for emotional education, greater exposure to social media, and the restrictions of lockdown, and knew there was a need to find new avenues to help youngsters alongside classical therapy.
The Fundación Teatro Joven partnered with the hospital to create “Teatro para Abrazar” (Theater for Hugging), a program that offers workshops to teens hospitalized for mental health issues such as self-harm, eating disorders, acute depressive symptoms, or suicidal behavior. They’re living under mandatory isolation, with no access to cell phones or the Internet, and participate in therapeutic sessions, educational support and supervised social interactions under the guidance of health professionals. In parallel, Teatro para Abrazar offers literary, creative and physical expression workshops five times a week throughout the year. This program benefits both patients and artists, providing emotional support for teens and stability for performers leading the sessions in terms of professional experience.
As the pandemic drew to an end, Teatro para Abrazar expanded its reach. In 2023 alone, it organized more than 430 workshops, led by 9 artists and 6 volunteers, in 3 hospitals.
“In psychiatry, we can’t get a better response from our patients than through them expressing themselves.”
Valentin Lemus, coordinator of psychiatry at the 12 de Octubre hospital
Building up
While the Fundación Teatro Joven will continue to develop and expand its projects, such as Teatro para Abrazar, David Peralto hopes to be able to create a large physical structure, such as a national theater dedicated solely to youth, to prove the importance of supporting the development of future generations. The possibilities and opportunities provided by the magic of theater can be life-changing.