PROPS go out

Children in decision-making roles are still not a matter of course in our society. Far too often, adults decide over their heads - including how children are portrayed on the theater stage, how their issues are artistically negotiated and who embodies them there. The GRIPS Theater has been campaigning for children's rights for decades - especially their right to co-determination. Children are involved in many projects and productions when it comes to bringing topics and stories to the stage.

But what happens when children are not only given a say, but are given complete artistic decision-making power and the execution of a professional production?

The “PROPS go out” project found out exactly this in the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons. Children aged 9 to 12 developed their own play in a collective process, decided on stage design, costumes, music and public relations - and directed adult professional actors on the stage of the GRIPS Podewil. The long-standing tradition of co-determination at the GRIPS Theater was thus consistently continued and extended by a decisive step: the artistic decision-making power of this professional theater production lay with the children. They took on roles that are usually reserved for adults - and conquered the medium of theater in a new, self-determined way. Not as consumers, but as producers, including the staging of adults.

We created spaces for intergenerational negotiation processes in which the participating children and adults as a team turned adultist theater structures and their own attitudes upside down: For their right to co-determination, a production directly from a child's perspective and an exemplary cultural enterprise of solidarity between the generations.

The resulting production “Don't stop dreaming” celebrated its premiere at the GRIPS Theater im Podewil on June 12, 2025.

Don't stop dreaming - A spooky search for the monsters in our heads and the shadows in our lives.

We dream when the deep sleep phase is coming to an end. In this interim period, recent experiences, old memories and ancient fears intermingle. Dream and reality are closely interwoven in the play Don't stop dreaming. Real people mingle in the dream world, dreamed figures suddenly appear in school lessons. It soon becomes difficult to distinguish. Between reality and fiction. Between cozy reverie and nightmare. What was just a game can tip over at any time.

This special production, the highlight of the participatory project “PROPS go out”, is made by young people for young people. In Don't stop dreaming, the children of the artistic team stage three adult actors and let them explore their dreams in the characters of Kai, Ten and Sasha. What fears do they harbor? What unlikely friendships? Who or what do they trust?

Tickets and dates on the GRIPS Theater homepage.

We provide more comprehensive insights into our work process at www.propsgehenraus.de and are happy to answer any questions at props[at]gripswerke.de!
“PROPS go out” is a project of the GRIPS Werke e.V. in cooperation with the GRIPS Theater. With the kind support of Kulturprojekte Berlin.

Funded by:
Aktion Mensch
Paritäter Berlin

In cooperation with:

Bildungsgflügel e.V.
Kampagne "Kinder beflügeln" - Evangelisches Johannesstift
Kinder- und Jugendbüro Mitte

Name: Emese (she/her)
Position: Coordination of participants/artistic director
Best children's right: The right to education that also addresses personal needs and talents.
Contact: bodolay[at]gripswerke.de

Name: Kris (she/her)
Position: Finance/Artistic Director
Best children's right: The right to opinion and participation, because I think that everyone should be involved in social decisions!
Contact: gruen[at]gripswerke.de

Name: Fabian (he/his)
Position: Public Relations/Artistic Director
Best children's right: The right to free time - enough hard work! Off on a bike ride to the lake!
Contact: schrader[at]gripswerke.de

Name: Jonna (she/her)
Position: Project assistant
Best children's right: The right to equality, because I think it's important that children's rights apply to all children and that no one is excluded!
Contact: groendahl[at]gripswerke.de