„Richard, I am your biggest fan!“ – as one student voluntarily shouted thus making the actor
smile
Our school‘s gym had turned into a stage on Wednesday 24th of November 2021 as the two
British actors Hanna and Lewis slipped into multiple roles. They performed Shakespeare’s Richard
III in a more student friendly way by including some of the students and explaining the
Shakespearean English in Modern English. Although some students were afraid to be picked to
play a role, the play was entertaining enough to accept the rather late end of the school day.
A dancing Richard, a fighting Richard and the biggest fan of Richard were absolutely worth
watching.
by Annalena and Emilia
R. Crookback on our gym floor
“Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer by this sun of York.“ (Richard, Act 1, Scene 1.)
24th of November, a Wednesday evening taking a surprising turn.
While some students already were at home and enjoying their end of the day, year ten, eleven and
twelve had to stay in school for a play, which some of them didn’t really look forward to, but the
play on our gym floor definitely could change their minds.
The two British actors Hanna and Lewis from the Phoenix theatre performed „Richard III.“ by our
old friend Shakespeare, but made it their own thing for sure.
Not only did they incorporate narration sections, they took students from the audience to end up as a part of the story as well. Due to this interaction, the audience was captivated by the story
and the play wasn’t boring at all, as some might have thought before. Hanna and Lewis included
lots of humor into the multiple characters they played, showing that you don’t need a whole
theatre cast for such a good performance.
Because the backdrop was rather minimalistic, the focus was clearly on the art of their acting.
Additionally the chosen music underlined the dramatic characteristics of Shakespeare‘s ”Richard
III.“, especially in the final fight scene.
After the actual play, the students could ask the actors some questions, from which we learned
that they studied acting for four years at a drama school in Essex and are now touring Germany.
In conclusion, the evening was a complete success and the whole audience had a lot of fun, while
vividly getting to know a rather dry story from years before us.
by Fenja, Sarah and Nika
Review Richard III
On Wednesday, the 24th of November, the Phoenix Theater put on a play for a handful of students
after classes ended that day. To no surprise at all, most of us weren’t really looking forward to
spending additional time at school, but, boy, would we have missed out.
One of the most admirable aspects about the Phoenix Theater is that their cast only consists of
two actors, but that fact doesn’t seem to limit them putting on a great show. With the help of a
few „volunteers“ from the audience and the actors taking on multiple roles at once, one almost
forgot about the limited number of professionals. To be completely honest – the interactive aspect
was one of the most charming ones of the play and provided quite some laughs, which are usually
hard to come by when watching one of Shakespeare‘s „masterpieces“.
All in all – the play and actors left quite an impression and was definitely worth sacrificing an entire afternoon.
by Mavie
Review Theatre Play/6 innocent children murdered by British invaders after school, also
robbed the audience 6€ each!
Theatre on a Wednesday in school: you have to stay longer and are forced to be there, sounds
like a pretty shitty afternoon, doesn’t it? Actually the Play Richard III. wasn’t that bad though, it
wasn‘t as long, as they „real“ play, so paying attention wasn’t difficult and we hadn’t to stay that
long. Also a big bonus point was, that only the Sekundarstufe II was there, so the whole audience
was able to understand it.
I actually enjoyed it, because I really like the story of Richard III. and the idea of Shakespeare
writing his main character as the villain. So, after Hamlet, it’s probably my next favourite from him.
The performance was very good as well, even though there was just two actors playing several
roles. Some roles were given to students, but they all died while playing.
by Benjamin, Nepomuk and Martin
