Building Bridges is an international cultural cooperation project funded by the Perform Europe programme (Creative Europe).
The project brings together three Playback Theatre groups from Lithuania, Germany, and Ukraine to explore how theatre can support minority communities and people affected by war, displacement, and social fragmentation.
Through four international tours, the project collects and performs real-life stories of Ukrainian refugees in Europe and communities living in Ukraine during wartime.
This initiative transforms personal testimony into shared dialogue — creating spaces of recognition, empathy, and collective reflection.
Objectives
Strengthen cross-border cultural cooperation
Support minority communities through applied theatre
Develop sustainable touring models for socially engaged art
Promote dialogue between refugees and host societies
Amplify underrepresented voices through storytelling
What We Did
Organised 4 international tours across 3 countries
Involved 3 professional Playback Theatre groups
Collected and performed dozens of personal stories
Facilitated community discussions after each performance
Developed inclusive, trauma-informed formats
Impact
The project reached diverse audiences including refugees, youth, cultural institutions, and local communities.
It strengthened international artistic collaboration and demonstrated that Playback Theatre can function not only as an artistic practice, but as a method of social resilience and minority adaptation.
Building Bridges created long-term partnerships and expanded the visibility of applied theatre within the European cultural landscape.
Why It Matters
In times of war and displacement, storytelling becomes a form of survival.
This project showed that theatre can serve as a bridge — between cultures, between experiences, between pain and understanding.
