Zentralverband Schweizer Volkstheater
The Zentralverband Schweizer Volkstheater (abbrev. ZSV, Engl. Central Association of Swiss Popular Theatre) is an umbrella organisation of amateur theatre societies in German-speaking and Rhaeto-Romance-speaking Switzerland and in the Principality of Liechtenstein. It connects theatre makers and offers multiplex support to amateur theatre societies and associations.
Organisation
The Zentralverband Schweizer Volkstheater (abbrev. ZSV, Engl. Central Association of Swiss Popular Theatre) is an umbrella organisation of amateur theatre societies in German-speaking and Rhaeto-Romance-speaking Switzerland and in the Principality of Liechtenstein. Seven regional associations are affiliated with the ZSV, connecting about 40,000 theatre makers both non-professional and occupational.
Aim
The Zentralverband Schweizer Volkstheater seeks to secure persistence of popular theatre as Swiss cultural property and to support amateur theatricals by means of aesthetics, technique and technology, as well as in respect to its role in intergenerational understanding and in culture and leisure facilitites. In order to add freshness and new impulse to a rich tradition, the ZSV offers opportunities of training, communication and networking to amateur theatre ensembles and shares knowledge and infrastructure. The ZSV addresses amateur theatre of any kind, be it children’s theatre, school or youth theatre, club or senior theatre.
In some parts of Switzerland, amateur theatre is classified as UNESCO intangible cultural heritage.