Once again, the Steinmühle Forum was packed—and once again, it was an event where the performers on stage really did a great job!

In keeping with tradition, students from various grade levels present musical and theatrical performances at the annual Cultural Evening. It becomes all the more exciting and challenging when foreign-language elements are added to the mix. After a musical prelude by the five-member jazz ensemble led by Frank Wemme, one such highlight took place right at the start. The English project by Class 6a, led by Nicole Hohm, shone with “The Crazy Story of King Arthur and His Magic Sword.” —it’s hard to believe that the 21 sixth graders were able to perform a play of such high quality on stage, with such fluency and linguistic proficiency, after just six double periods!

Applause for a Hip-Hop Musical

In the subsequent Hamilton project—a hip-hop musical about the life of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton—9th-grade students, under the direction and with the participation of Talea Funk, gave an impressive performance as the various characters in the play, which was rewarded with enthusiastic applause.

The 5th- and 6th-grade theater club, led by Flûte Seifart, explored the theme of “best friend.” The all-female cast asked themselves—and the audience—what kind of personal relationship might develop between two strangers if they happened to strike up a conversation on the street.

The Courage to Address Contemporary Issues

The Q3 “Drama” (DS) class staged the tragic story of Somali track and field athlete Samia Yusuf Omar. The 2008 Olympian died in 2012 while fleeing across the Mediterranean Sea. Under the direction of Dagmar Müller, the actors impressively tackled a serious and moving contemporary issue.

Accompanied by additional performances by the jazz ensemble—which ultimately closed the event with pieces such as “Solitude” and “Don’t Stop the Carnival,” the 11th-grade DS class taught by Christian Finance presented a project titled “The Empty Room,” demonstrating that one can make a strong impression in a concise form even without many words.

On the technical side, the “Sound and Light” team, led by Sam Kempkes and Werner Eismann, provided excellent stage lighting. Christian Finance was responsible for the overall coordination of the cultural evening, and Ulrike Wassum served as the general director.