Hellenic Theatre/Drama & Education Network (TENet-Gr)
23rd THEATRE SUMMER CAMP 2026
“Impacts: Body and Voice in Action”
Chiliomodi, Corinthias, Greece, 27-31 August 2026
Workshop for young people (13-17 years)
Workshop title:
patching up |a participatory workshop on freedom of expression|
<Our ideas live in your gaps.>
Facilitators: Giouli Douvou & Despoina Mitsiali
LANGUAGE: GREEK
Workshop description:
“Patching Up | A Participatory Workshop on Freedom of Expression” is designed for teenagers and focuses on freedom of expression in public life. Inspired by the practice of censorship, whereby texts and works of art were covered with “white patches or blank spaces” to prevent them from being publicly seen, the workshop uses censored artworks as a starting point for exploration. Through this process, it seeks to create space for new ideas, thoughts, and voices that have not yet found a way to be heard.
In this workshop, we will be accompanied by: A microphone switched on. A pair of scissors that does not cut words. A patch that does not conceal, but connects the “gaps”.
Drawing on creative practices such as Devised Theatre, creative writing, and collective artistic processes, we will explore unspoken ideas, the obstacles that restrict our freedom of expression, and pathways for allowing ideas to circulate freely and be heard.
The workshop does not offer answers; rather, it creates an open space where participants can speak, question, imagine, and experiment with new ways of expression. It is an experiential journey in which art becomes a tool for communication, resistance, and freedom.
Aim: To write a Free Topic of Free Writing and Free Expression.
Despoina and Giouli first met two years ago, somewhere between theatre projects, laughter, improvisations, hugs, and countless creative ideas! Since then, their collaboration has grown into a shared aspiration and a source of inspiration! They love working with adolescents, because they have a unique ability to speak their truth, question what is taken for granted, dream boldly, and illuminate the world through their own innovative perspectives. Together, they aspire to create safe spaces where every voice can be heard freely—with courage, imagination, and without censorship!
Despoina Mitsiali has studied Social Policy at Panteion University, Theatre at the “Archi” Drama School, and Philology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA). She holds a Master's degree in Theatre and Education and is certified as an Adult Educator by the National Organisation for the Certification of Qualifications and Vocational Guidance (EOPPEP). She has attended seminars on Human Rights and Intercultural Education, as well as workshops in Educational Drama, Theatre Workshop Facilitation, and Acting Techniques. In 2025, she founded Patchwork Social Cooperative Enterprise (KoinSEP) with the aim of supporting the sustainability of professionals working in the fields of Culture, Education, and Social Welfare, while promoting artistic, educational, and socially engaged initiatives. In her last years as a teenager, she has worked as an artist, educator and group facilitator, as well as a coordinator of artistic and educational programmes. Her primary interest lies in exploring how art, and theatre in particular, can serve as a tool for social and political intervention, learning, awareness-raising, and empowerment. She has collaborated with a wide range of organisations and groups, contributing to programmes with similar educational, artistic, and social objectives. These include the Children’s and Youth Theatre of the National Theatre of Greece, the Greek Film Centre, the theatre company Syntechnia tou Geliou (Guild of Laughter), the Interdisciplinary Centre for the Study of Sculpture, Architecture and Communication Cities in Balance, the group for the promotion of healthy and active ageing People Behind, the women’s storytelling organisation Each One Story, the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, the Hellenic Theatre/Drama & Education Network, ActionAid Hellas, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the European Wergeland Centre. As a volunteer, she has taken part in international exchanges, projects, and working groups in India, Russia, and Germany, centred on intercultural education and human rights advocacy.
Giouli Douvou holds a degree in Theatre Studies from the University of Patras, along with pedagogical training, and is currently a PhD Candidate in the Department of Educational Sciences and Social Work at the University of Patras. Her research interests focus on racism and psychoeducational interventions with adolescents. She holds a Master’s degree from the University of the Peloponnese in Drama and Performing Arts in Education and Lifelong Learning. Her postgraduate research explored Drama in Education as a means of raising adolescents’ awareness of racism and discriminatory attitudes. She was awarded a scholarship by the Greek State Scholarships Foundation (IKY) and studied at Sapienza University of Rome. She is currently training in Arts Therapy and Systemic Therapy. Since 2011, she has been responsible for the operation and coordination of the Theatre Workshop of the Patras Municipal and Regional Theatre (DI.PE.THE.). She has extensive experience as a facilitator of groups for children, young people, and adults. For four years, she coordinated a mixed group of unaccompanied refugee adolescents and Greek teenagers within the Intercultural Workshop of DI.PE.THE. Patras. She has also worked with socially vulnerable groups, including Roma communities and individuals experiencing mental health challenges. Since 2023, she has been collaborating with the University of Patras in the Master's Programme Children’s and Adolescent Mental Health, Addictions and New Technologies, facilitating the Self-Development Groups workshop. Alongside these roles, she worked for eleven years as a theatre facilitator at Arsakeia Schools of Patras and has taught in public and post-secondary education for more than twenty-two years. In 2006, she co-founded Epi Drasei, a theatre workshop for children, young people, and adults. She has designed and delivered numerous drama education and psychoeducational programmes for schools, cultural institutions, and organisations. Her collaborations include the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Hellenic Theatre/Drama & Education Network, the Athens and Epidaurus Festival, the Municipal Museum of the Kalavryta Holocaust, the University of Patras, the Kallipolis Prevention Centre, the Primary and Secondary Education Directorates of Achaia, and a range of other educational and cultural bodies. Among her most notable projects are “Following the Boy with the Suitcase”, “With Reason and Dream”, “Hands Have a Voice”, and “Seeds of Wisdom for Open Doors”, a programme on historical empathy and intercultural understanding that has also been approved by the Institute of Educational Policy (IEP). In 2025, she wrote and directed “The Games of Others”, a theatre production for adolescents, created by the Hellenic Theatre/Drama & Education Network in collaboration with the Patras Municipal and Regional Theatre (DI.PE.THE.). She also curates and artistically coordinates student arts festivals and has participated in numerous seminars and masterclasses in acting, directing, dramatherapy, and theatre education. Throughout her career, she has directed numerous theatre productions and collaborated as a dramaturg on a wide range of performances.
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| Cities | - Κορινθία
- Χιλιομόδι Κορινθίας
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