English language student theatre festival in Mersch

Pupils from ten school groups and English classes will perform at the Festival of English plays taking place from 23 to 25 February at the Mierscher Kulturhaus. 

The event is organised by the Association Luxembourgeoise des Enseignants d'Anglais (ALEA) in conjunction with the BGT English Theatre Company under the patronage of the British Embassy Luxembourg.

It's the first time this one-act-plays festival is taking place and was jointly organised by ALEA president and English teacher at the Lënster Lycée Laure Schreiner, and by BGT director Tony Kingston, who organises a number of English language drama classes in schools throughout the country. 

The plays will be performed by students between 13 and 18 years old, from diverse backgrounds, who attend Luxembourg public schools as well as private schools. 

"We have a mix of private and public school ... and that's what makes the project really interesting, because for some of the pupils at the international schools, English is their first or maybe their second language but that's not necessarily the case for the kids in [public schools]," Schreiner said, adding she hoped the event would also allow pupils from all schools to meet and form new friendships.

Some of the plays have been rewritten or adapted by the teachers and the students such as Peter Pan or the Nibelungen and some of the plays are known pieces such as the 30-minute Hamlet, Schreiner explained. 

Schreiner said the idea for the project came about after Kingston – whom she had already worked with – approached her last year and as the ALEA committee was looking for events to organise. 

"He approached me saying it would be really cool if we could just have an event where we show the public the wonderful work that the students and the teachers do in that area to just give them a bigger platform..." Schreiner said. 

Schreiner and Kingston approached a number of teachers already last summer, but the students and teachers only started working together on the project in September. 

The festival, organised while keeping in mind that the English language is becoming increasingly important in Luxembourg, is also a way to allow pupils a chance to improve their language abilities, develop their presentational skills and their self-confidence while learning about theatre arts. 

A number of schools in Luxembourg have also introduced English theatre as an extra-curricular activity in recent years, according to the organisers.

Schreiner said it was important for members of the ALEA committee to show not only teachers, students or parents the linguistic and theatrical talent of the pupils.

"We wanted an event where we can show how well the students deal with the language we teach and just highlight their level, that these kids are able to go on stage and speak their fourth or fifth language and present a whole play to an audience!" Schreiner explained. 

Asked about Luxembourgish students' attitude toward the English language, Schreiner said she had always had "really positive experiences".

"For most of the students who go the Luxembourgish public lycée it's the fourth or even the fifth language that they learn.

"Generally when they start learning the motivation is quite high because it's a language that is universal, a world language and they want to learn it because they want to understand their song texts and things like that, so they think it's pretty cool I guess to learn English," Schreiner explained, adding that the attitude can sometimes change over time after a few years of learning English vocabulary and grammar. 

The performances are open to the public and will be held from 23 to 25 February at the Kulturhaus in Mersch and tickets can be purchased over the phone at (+352) 47 08 95 1.

A workshop for English teachers on promoting students' English language acquisition via drama techniques and activities will also take place on Sunday.

A number of theatre workshops for the students participating in the plays will also take place over the weekend.