100 years of Sociodrama - a wild, sociodramatic birthday party

One hundred years ago, dressed as a jester, Jacob Moreno put an empty throne on Komödienhaus theater house’s stage in Vienna. He invited regular citizens on the stage to take the seat and jump into the community leader’s role. It was April 1st, 1921, the fool’s day in a post-war, post-empire, post-monarchy country full of uncertainty, poverty, and despair as well as possibilities. This particular moment in time is considered the birth of Sociodrama as a method and its unique quest for hope.

100 years! Being a method for group work and group interventions, that’s quite a birthday. And an excellent reason to celebrate. Celebrate big!

We want to invite all relatives, friends and neighbors, all the people Sociodrama has ever met at work or in private. We want to invite brothers and sisters like Psychodrama and broader family members like Theater of the Oppressed, Playback Theater, or Social Presencing Theater. And if you turn a hundred years old, it’s time to invite really everyone. Even the ones you always had your arguments with or have never spoken to for ages.

Sometimes the best guests are the ones you have never seen before — a distant nephew from far away, e.g., from Design Thinking or business school.

We wish for a diverse mix of guests at this birthday party because we are done celebrating the past. One hundred years don’t make us feel tired or rusty. In opposite: Sociodrama wants to grow, wants to spread - wants to pack stuff, find like-minded people and go on to new endeavors.

What party will it be? Well. For sure, a sociodramatic one (what else, really?). We would love to see you there. Be prepared to bring your knowledge and expertise, your wishes and gifts, your heart and your thoughts - your feelings and your laughter.

Let’s have a good time! Let’s celebrate! Let’s mix, mingle and grow!

What will happen there?

• Warm-ups and virtual theater games
• interactive virtual facilitation
• role-creating and role play around the birthday party

In a nutshell: what is a sociodrama?

A sociodrama is a dramatic play in which participants explore issues, problems, questions or systems in action by co-creating roles and encountering of roles.

Can you not make it this time?

We will let you know of upcoming sessions or programmes based on sociodrama and creative action methods, if you sign up here.

Who is it for?

• People who are involved in action methods like Sociodrama, Psychodrama, Playback Theater, Theater of the Oppressed, Social Presencing Theater, Constellations etc.
• People with a foothold in group facilitation like Liberating Structures or Art of Hosting.
• People with a background in innovation or product development methods like Design Thinking, Scrum, agile Frameworks, Effectuation, Design Sprints.
• People who rotate around terms like strategy, futures, transformation, change, new work, organizational development, team development, leadership development, diversity, community building, climate change, social justice, participation, co-creation, learning, experience, consulting or coaching in their job description.

Basically everyone who is working with groups or is interested in an exciting virtual learning experience.

What will it cost?

We believe, what organizations and people can pay for such a learning journey varies widely, especially in these extraordinary times. We have therefore opted for a pay-as-you-can model.

Suppose you are wondering what would be reasonable for the three-hour session. In that case, you can think of the fee of two professional coaching hours, for example, or what a day seminar usually costs (divided by 2, of course). What someone can pay is very individual. We are happy to receive any contribution. We fully understand, especially in the current situation, if you can't or don't want to pay anything at all. We will donate 20% of the fees to SOS MEDITERRANEE*.

*SOS MEDITERRANEE is a European, maritime-humanitarian organisation for the rescue of life in the Mediterranean. It was founded by European citizens who chartered a rescue vessel in order to save people in distress in the Central Mediterranean – the world’s most deadly migration route. The four headquarters are located in Berlin (Germany), Marseilles (France), Milan (Italy) and Geneva (Switzerland).