Preparations are underway for the 17th School Theatre Week
Preparations are in full swing for the 17th Chemnitz School Theatre Week, for which the theatre curtain will be raised at the Schauspielhaus from 19 to 24 April. 22 plays of all kinds invite pupils, teachers, parents and other interested parties to make their way to the theatre.
"Fairy tales are the big hit this time and a treasure trove for romantic, magical or unusually quirky or contemporary productions, as will be seen during the school theatre week. The young actors are wonderfully inventive, go about their work with a lot of humour and surprises and don't shy away from current issues," says theatre teacher Heike Vieth, delighted with the ingenuity of the young protagonists.
Pupils in grades 1 to 12 from primary, special, secondary and grammar schools in Chemnitz and the region present up to five plays worth seeing every day on three stages of the theatre, with which they were able to convince the jury.
From "Hansel and Gretel" by the Wechselburg primary school to "The Bremen Town Musicians" by the primary school pupils from Reichenbrand and "Devilishly Good" by the BIP creative primary school, fairy tale follows fairy tale.
The jury also decided that "Das wilde Määäh" (Friedrich-Schiller-Oberschule Neustadt in Sachsen), "Grimmige Märchen" (Chemnitzer Schulmodell)as well as the musical "Der kleine Tag" (Johannes-Kepler-Gymnasium), the western comedy "Sie nannten ihn Pferdehaar" (Johann-Wolfgang-von-Goethe-Gymnasium) and the Heiner Müller project "Du, Hamlet!" (Martin-Luther-Gymnasium Frankenberg).
A highlight of the school theatre week will be the performance by pupils from the twin city of Volgograd on 22 April. They are bringing the play "Karlsson on the Roof" to Chemnitz.
"The 13 to 14-year-olds from a grammar school in Volgograd will be performing Astrid Lindgren's play in German at the Schauspielhaus on 22 April," reports Wolfgang Seim, who helped initiate the school theatre week 17 years ago. The amusing story about the Svanteson family, who live in Stockholm, is a classic. One of the children, seven-year-old Svante, who everyone calls Lillebror, is lonely because his parents have a lot to do. One day, Karlsson appears in Lillebror's room, with whom he has exciting adventures and pranks. If you are curious about the Volgograd production, you should make a note of 22 April! The theatre group from the twin city arrives on 18 April and is looking forward to meeting like-minded Germans as well as an accompanying programme that will take the girls and boys to schools and places of interest, among other things.
By the way: those who take part in the Chemnitz School Theatre Week this year will be daring and may win three times over! The tickets to Chemnitz have been secured, but it is still unclear which group will then travel to Dresden for the "Saxon Theatre Meeting" in June (24 - 26) and to the national "School Theatre of the States" meeting in September (20 - 26).
Information on the 17th Chemnitz School Theatre Week
can be obtained from theatre pedagogue Dr Heike Vieth (call 0371 6969-817, and Gerlinde Heber at the Education and Sport Office (0371 488-4046, .