Englisches Theater am MPG
Am letzten Schultag im Dezember 2024 führte das White Horse Theatre das berühmte Stück „Romeo and Juliet“ von Shakespeare auf. Unter dem Motto „Learn English through Theatre“ verband die Inszenierung die klassische englische Sprache mit ausdrucksstarkem Schauspiel, um den Schüler_innen der Oberstufe eine spannende und abwechslungsreiche Aufführung zu bieten.
Die talentierten Schauspieler_innen übernahmen mehrere Rollen und schafften es trotz der begrenzten Bühnengestaltung, eine facettenreiche Performance darzubieten. Durch ausdrucksstarke Gestik und Mimik wurden die Emotionen der Charaktere greifbarer, was den Zugang zum Stück erleichterte, ohne dass die Zuschauer_innen ausschließlich auf die anspruchsvolle Sprache angewiesen waren.
Die anschließende Q&A-Runde bot dem Publikum einen persönlichen Einblick in das Leben der Darsteller_innen, die teilweise über jahrelange internationale Bühnenerfahrung verfügten.
Text: Madlen Herbst (Schülerin der Q2)
Romeo and Juliet by the White Horse Theatre
On Friday, December 20, the Q2 as well as the EF got to experience a well-done staging of Romeo and Juliet by the great William Shakespeare, performed by the White Horse Theatre. It was well played and definitely worth the time. After all, Romeo and Juliet is an all-time classic that everybody should experience at least once in their lifetime. It was a great opportunity to see it live, and many people were grateful to be part of it.
The White Horse Theatre did a great job overall. The storytelling was good, and the play was understandable even for moderately proficient English speakers. The costumes were great and definitely fit into the story as well as the time period in which the play originally takes place.
As one knows the play, some people may have wondered in advance how they would stage the famous balcony scene without having a balcony in our theatre. This being a key scene in the play makes it important to have the scenery set up correctly so that everybody understands the play as it should be understood. But even the balcony problem was solved extraordinarily well, with Juliet standing on a ladder hidden behind some sort of blanket. The blanket was hanging over a metal structure, which was obviously standing in front of her. However, this was not the only function of the metal structure, as Juliet also leaned on it as if she were leaning on the edge of a real balcony. It really did look like she was standing on a balcony, which I think was a great way to set up the scenery and fascinating to see.
The actors were great and did a good job. Even when the school bell rang during the performance, signaling break time for other students, the actor improvised so well that everyone thought it was part of the play. But not only that—from beginning to end, the actors made the play entertaining, and the time passed quickly. This was also due to the audience being involved in the play, as we were instructed to represent an angry crowd at certain points. Of course, this was well organized, and we were informed at the beginning of the play that we would have to participate at some moments. This is a great way to keep the audience engaged, which is especially important in schools, as not everybody may have a strong interest in the play.
The actors were very polite, and we also had the opportunity to ask some questions at the end of the performance.
In conclusion, one can say that it was a great experience. As Romeo and Juliet is not only an important part of our English class but also a significant part of English literary history, it was an experience that many people appreciated. The performance was both entertaining and easy to follow. I would highly recommend that schools provide their students with such an opportunity.
Text: Jonathan Kienle (Schüler der Q2)
Fotos: Jonas Ben Mohamed