Next step: testing the characters. Are they believable, relatable, diverse enough?
We’ll find out in the coming months.

#TransformativeRolePlaying #TRP #Men4Dem #ViaBerlin #Emancipator #PlaySpace #Masculinity #Radicalisation #CoCreation

The first TRP will premiere in June 2026 in Gdańsk, Poland, followed by test sessions with our Men4Dem partners in
🇵🇱 Poland • 🇬🇷 Greece • 🇮🇹 Italy • 🇩🇪 Germany • 🇸🇪 Sweden

By stepping into another person’s shoes, participants engage in embodied reflection: a way to challenge assumptions, develop empathy, and create awareness of social dynamics.

Transformative Role Playing (TRP) is an experiential form of role play where participants don’t just act out a role - they experience change in perspective, behaviour, or awareness.

From this starting point, we began shaping the characters, their relationships, and moments of transformation. The first insights from our research project “When did you leave?” (Oerol 2025) serve as a key source of inspiration.

Our recent brainstorm, began with a simple question led by Jens from Emancipator, : what do we mean by masculinity and femininity and aren’t these, in essence, human qualities?

🇪🇺 Through @men4dem.bsky.social we explore how art, science, and society can foster visibility, empathy, and inclusion in times of polarization.

This report is valuable not only for MEN4DEM but also as inspiration for other projects and institutions working in hostile or polarized settings.

🧠 Read the full report here 👉 zenodo.org/records/1526...

While tailored to MEN4DEM, this framework offers a transferable roadmap for building collective, democratic researcher safety infrastructures across diverse contexts.

Within the European project MEN4DEM, they also developed a Researcher Safety Helpdesk - with trainings, a resource library, and peer-support sessions.

In their new report Safe Research Ethics Framework, Brit Anlar and Liza Mügge (University of Amsterdam) propose an alternative.

Their framework is rooted in Feminist Care Ethics, centering care, solidarity, and shared responsibility.

Most ethical guidelines focus on protecting participants. But the vulnerability of researchers themselves is often overlooked.

Op festival Oerol speelden we de afgelopen dagen 18 keer de voorstelling ‘When did you leave’ voor 3,500 bezoekers. Vandaag was de laatste dag. Nieuwsgierig? Lees onderstaande blog. En check vooral ook de fantastische video aan het eind.
stukroodvlees.nl/radicale-ond...

𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 runs at Oerol through June 22.

🎧 A music theatre experience like no other.
📸 Nichon Glerum

#WhenDidYouLeave #ViaBerlin #Oerol2025 #Men4Dem

💬 “All your senses are triggered by the mix of dance, music, acting and narrative. You feel the warmth of the sun; together it makes for an intense experience.”

💬 “I’m already checking if I can see it again with a friend.”