Former participants in Cape Town’s Regional workshop “Shaping stories” successfully launched the first editions of the “1st June of playwriting for young people” in Western and Central Africa.

Many of the 16 African artists who formed the second cohort of Shaping stories, the Regional workshop of ASSITEJ, proposed by Scènes d’enfance – ASSITEJ France during the Cradle of creativity and congress, last year in Cape Town, kept in touch since then. Their exchanges animated an informal but very active network, sharing informations and support throughout 8 countries. When they have been proposed to initiate local events for the 2018 edition of the “1st June”, the TYA playwriting day already celebrated in France, Russia, Quebec and Tunisia, 4 of them answered positively.

Among these pioneers, Jeannette Mogoun and Guillaume Ekefe (from Théâtre Chocolat),  in Cameroon, Loulou Lokossou in Ivory Coast, and Narcisse Amouzou in Togo organized an amazing series of lectures, carnaval, radio sessions, set-design workshop, performances, all around plays for young audiences, addressed to hundreds of children in different kind of places : an orphanage, churches, the local French Institutes, universities, schools and streets. It is remarkable that more than 25 different associative partners altogether gave hands to these projects.

As it had been experienced in France, through the four previous editions of the “1st June”, plays (read, improvised around, staged in light forms, sung) have there proven as a very appropriate media to federate a large audience.

For their part, Scènes d’enfance – ASSITEJ France and the French Institute have decided to work together and find the best means to support the development and sustainability of this event.

The 1st June in Douala (Cameroon)