Our Theatrical Group in special education schools with our theatrical play “A Line and a Dot and a Miracle on the Spot!” (21/12/2023-19/4/2024)
Recent Performances:
19/4/2024 Special Vocational Secondary School of Ilion
26/3/2024 Special Vocational Education & Training Workshop for students with vision impairments and multiple disabilities Aegaleo & Special Vocational Secondary School of Ilion
29/2/2024 Special Vocational Education & Training Workshop Aigaleo
21/12/2023 Special Vocational Secondary School of Ano Liosia
Since the establishment of Omilos Eksipiretiton, the Theatrical Group of Omilos selflessly gives theatrical performances for children at any kind of caring and hosting organizations for children (children’s hospitals, boarding schools, shelters, orphanages, sheltered housing for people with special needs, etc.)
The work of our Theatrical Group has now become well known in the field of special education and we receive many invitations from Heads and Teachers of special educational needs schools for us to visit their schools and perform to the students.
In this article we present to you the overall experience of our most recent theatrical performances in special needs schools.
Some people say, “Do not co-star with kids, they will steal the show!”. But this is exactly what we want to achieve with the Theatrical Group of Omilos… the children to become the protagonists! In each of our performances there is a dialogue between our group and the children. That’s just how the performance flows. It flows with imagination, cooperation and lots of joy!
“You can’t imagine how happy the kids were even the day after the theatrical play!”
“Very impressive that our children stayed concentrated for so long!”
“Thank you very much for the message you passed to us!”
are some of the teachers’ comments after our performances.
In each of our performances we had an average of 60 to 70 children attending, along with their teachers. In the beginning, some teachers wanted to inform us that «you know…the children have difficulties,and they may not be able to stay concentrated for the entire performance», but we always say to the teachers that there has never, ever been any difficulty with our performance and the children. On the contrary, all children always watch the play, they participate and enjoy it.
Indeed…
A teacher told us at the end of the play “children have never kept so quiet! even a student who has never stay seated for an entire performance, today, for the first time,he stayed focused until the very end!”. Moreover, the huge smiles of the children, their touch on our hands, as well as their warm voice and their applause was the biggest confirmation that the message of the play passed to them: Every child is a miracle!”
The children were watching the performance with a great pleasure. And something more… they were concentrated and actively participating in it, they were applauding and showing us – even when they couldn’t say it with words – how much they enjoyed it, each in their own unique way. They did come on stage with us and help us to change the backdrops, they danced and sang with us, they made comments and were teasing us, as well as they gave us fantastic ideas for future performances!
Even those children who were the most hesitant, came and sat in the front seats slowly-slowly. Even those who could only express themselves with sweet sounds and not words, they applauded and participated in their own unique way.
Children with wheelchairs or not enjoyed dancing together with their teachers and members of our theatrical group.
“Thank you very much for coming”, another teacher said on behalf of a young student whom he brought to us as she wanted to offer us a big smile. Some children wanted to offer us their lunchboxes and share it. Joy was everywhere.
The Little Miracle of the fairytale was alive inside every child… The great Miracle was happening right in front of our eyes. The children stayed calm and concentrated for over an hour in the room, all together as one group. For their teachers this it was unexpected, as they already had told us. They didn’t expect it… but we knew…
Before we leave, we donated our fairytale book «A Line and a Dot and a Miracle on the Spot!» to all schools, so that teachers and children can read the book together and relive the search of the Miracle.
By contacting the teachers in the following days after the play, we learned that the children were particularly calm and happy for the rest of the day, even the next day of the performance.
Our theatrical group continues its activities… steadily and selflessly, just like all the work done by Omilos Eksipiretiton.