“It really connects all participants” example of a playbuilding process through youth theatre-based competition in Iceland

The aim of this article is to shed light on how participation in Skrekkur (stage fright) can affect young people's well-being and self-esteem. Through a playbuilding process, young people gain the opportunity to perform seven minutes of on-stage production, in Skrekkur, (English: stage fright), a youth theatre-based competition, for lower secondary schools in Reykjavík, Iceland. The research is grounded in the qualitative tradition, classified as a case study. The findings reveal that the participants saw the project as an empowering aspect of their studies, and it boosted the students' self-esteem and increased their well-being.