The special thing about the performance: all of the actors, apart from Steagner, were addicts. After the improv theater, discussions took place in several small groups with the students, teachers and performers. The discussions were professionally supported by representatives of the RAK, Harald Pillny, head of addiction counseling at the Caritas Association, Sabine Moser, Melissa Becker and Sebastian Herzig from the Idar-Oberstein Youth Welfare Office and Thomas Ajineh from the Birkenfeld District Youth Welfare Office.
"The Requisit association only accepts former addicts who have been clean for at least three months," explains Nora Steagner, a graduate in theater education. This also applies to the four actors Katja, Jessi, Maik and Tobias. Together with Steagner, they offered the young audience over an hour of improvisational theater, allowing them to influence the scenes by specifying themes and moods and adding sentences. The result was a successful and exciting interplay that was very well received by the pupils and basically had nothing at all to do with addiction. The multicultural audience was able to influence the stage program in a creative way and visibly enjoyed this concept.
Steagner justified her approach on the one hand by saying that the pupils should lose their inhibitions about the subsequent discussion groups, as a trusting atmosphere is created. On the other hand, this should also open the doors to the taboo subject of addiction in the discussion groups. Social education worker Melissa Becker from the decentralized youth work department agrees with this approach and adds: "The best way to gain access to young people is to interact with them as equals." According to Theater Requisit, this raises awareness of the issue of addiction in a special way.
The subsequent discussion rounds then got down to business. The causes and progression of addiction were discussed in a protected setting, and the pupils were given information about the regional specialist advice centers and the help they offer. The actors are permanently employed by Theater Requisit and are specially trained to talk to the pupils about the first signs of addiction and ways out. Theater Requisit is also a stabilizing pillar for the former addicts themselves. "An addiction and the way out is like playing the fingers on a keyboard. Instead of an all-or-nothing or "I've done it!" mentality, it is important to convey that there will always be highs, lows and everything in between on the way out of addiction. Relapses are part of the process." Steagner emphasized motivating conversations, reinforcing previously learned coping strategies and pointing out existing resources.
Not only the pupils, but also the teachers themselves took part in a discussion with the theater director. Actress Jessy, who is new to the theater, talked about her personal experiences. Traumatic events in her childhood led to addiction. She has since come to terms with and reflected on her story through therapy. To minimize the risk of relapse, she joined Theater Requisit and left her old environment.
"When we talk about addiction prevention, many people immediately think of bans and a raised index finger," explain Sabine Moser and Sebastian Herzig from the City Youth Welfare Office, who also run the Tom and Lisa workshops on alcohol prevention in the city. This event proves that there is another way to teach young people about fun, joie de vivre and new perspectives as the best recipe against drugs and too much alcohol, summarize the two educators. The core aspects of the HaLT (Hart am Limit) alcohol prevention program, which is offered by the Idar-Oberstein Youth Welfare Office, are also risk management rather than prohibition.
"This event was met with great interest from our pupils. It was a great theater experience for many young people and their knowledge on the subject of addiction increased," explains school social worker Catarina Klos. It was particularly noteworthy that she even received positive feedback from the students themselves.
The pupils from the Realschule plus were given a reflection sheet after the event. Due to the very positive feedback from the students, the organizers are considering offering several events with Theater Requisit in Idar-Oberstein next year.