exit the room

Young Artists & Young Audience
Exploring new ways of creating theatre and art exchange

See here for more information on the project

What is exit the room?
From 2022 to 2027, the EXIT THE ROOM project – funded by the EU's ERASMUS+ program – will bring young adults interested in art into a European exchange with each other. The aim is to turn the next generation into creators of their own programs and to encourage new forms of discourse about and with the mediation of art. In this way, a large network of Next Generation Projects is to be created in European youth theater by 2027.

The program includes residencies of YOUNG ARTISTS and their performative try-outs at the participating festivals as well as expert discussions and networking meetings. New forms of dialogue, reflection and encounters between young people around theater performances will be developed. The focus is on intensifying the existing networking of aspiring artists with more established artists in workshops, dialogues and discourses.

What are the themes and artistic forms of the Next Generation and what methods and platforms do they need for the development of their art?
How can children and young people, the direct target audience of the plays, be interactively involved in the festival?
Which ways of connecting theatre with its environment can be found?
How do the artists interact with the respective cities?
How can a theoretical, professional confrontation between cultural criticism, cultural policy and children's and youth theatre take place?

At the end of their project, the Next Generation participants pass on their insights and knowledge to a new project group, and the project cycle can restart with a new generation every year.

exit the room 2026/2027

1. Participants Residency:
TaO! Theater am Ortweinplatz (AT)
Stella.Darstellender Kunst Preis, Assitej Austria
November 15th - 22nd 2026, incl. travel days

2. Participants Residency:
Starke Stücke-Festival | Frankfurt a. M. (DE)
February 25th - March 4th 2027, incl. travel days

3. Participants Residency:
BRONKS, Brussels | Volt FESTIVAL, Ghent (BE)
April 11th 2027 - April 18th 2027, incl. travel days

Participants aged between 18 and 25 from Belgium, Germany, Croatia and Austria are eligible to apply. The deadline for applications is 20 July 2026.

Click here for the OPEN CALL.

The following theatres and festivals set out to find exciting formats that make
theatre festivals, in addition to performances, an extraordinary event in the project exit the room:

• Agora Theater, St. Vith, Belgium

• Bravo! Festival, Helsinki metropolitan area, Finland

• Bronks, Brussels, Belgium

• Junges Theater Bremen, Bremen, Germany

• Jugend Theater Werkstatt Spandau, Berlin, Germany

• Kliker Festival, Varaždin, Croatia

• Maas Theater & Dans, Rotterdam, Netherlands

• Mezzanintheater, Graz, Austria

• Segni d'infanzia, Mantua, Italy

• spleen*graz, Graz, Austria

• Starke Stücke, Frankfurt, Germany

• Stadttheater Spandau, Berlin, Germany

• TaO!, Graz, Austria (accredited institution and head organization)

• VRUM performing arts collective, Vienna, Austria

• Westwind Festival, NRW, Deutschland

Starke Stücke collaborates with Amt für multikulturelle Angelegenheiten (AmkA) for the realisation of the project „exit the room“ in 2023.