AllezEnfants!

A festival made by teenagers, for teenagers

AllezEnfants! is a micro-festival dedicated to the theatre workshops of secondary schools in Rome. Born from the collaboration between the independent space Carrozzerie | n.o.t and the artistic collective Isola Teatro, it is supported by the Fondazione Teatro di Roma in partnership with the 369 gradi production centre. It takes place at Teatro India, the venue on Lungotevere Vittorio Gassman that has served as a contemporary laboratory for Roman public theatre for years.

The format has remained consistent since the first edition: for three consecutive days, around two hundred students aged 14 to 18 take over the halls, corridors, and outdoor spaces of the theatre. It is a unique project on the national scene, designed entirely for the age group that usually only experiences theatre from the audience seats.

How a typical day works

The daily schedule of AllezEnfants! is divided into three parts:

• Morning — students from different workshops are mixed into working groups and distributed across workshops led by professional artists: dancers, performers, directors, musicians, and companies. Topics range from contemporary dance to experimental cinema, and from beatboxing to stage writing.
• Afternoon — time for ALLEZ,HOP!, a self-managed educational and recreational path where participants discuss, compare, and rework what they have seen and done, including through fanzines, podcasts, and videos.
• Evening — stage presentations of the school workshops: each group performs the work developed throughout the year before their peers from other schools.

Not a competition, but a community

The founding principle of the festival is clear: AllezEnfants! is not a competition; there is no rivalry, only sharing and unity. The stated goal is to reshape the thinking of a new generation of theatre-makers who want to learn, explore, and influence one another. Placing groups that work with different methods side-by-side demonstrates that there is no single way to be on stage, helping to form more competent and curious spectators.

Tutors play a special role: students in their final years and recent graduates of the Accademia Nazionale d'Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico support the high school groups, creating a bridge between those studying theatre as a profession and those discovering it at school.

Schools and artists

Recent editions have involved seven to nine Roman institutions, including Liceo Classico Statale Giulio Cesare, Liceo Scientifico G.B. Morgagni, Liceo Statale Terenzio Mamiani, Liceo Virgilio, Liceo Keplero, Liceo Orazio, Istituto Statale Gelasio Caetani, and Istituto Cine-TV Roberto Rossellini. Artists who have led the workshops include prominent names from the contemporary Italian scene: from Ubu Award winner Claudia Marsicano to world slam poetry champion Lorenzo Maragoni, director Mounir Derbal, musician Flavio Bedini, and dancers Giselda Ranieri, Giulia Spattini, and Mariella Celia.

Teatro India and its neighbourhood

Teatro India is located on the right bank of the Tiber, at the intersection of the Ostiense and Testaccio districts, in a converted former factory that retains the industrial character of early 20th-century Rome. It is one of the most iconic locations in the metropolitan city of Rome, in the Lazio region: nearby are the Gazometri, the Ponte dell'Industria, and the galleries and clubs that have made Ostiense the youngest district in the capital. For a teenage festival, it is the perfect setting.