Theater Workshop for 7th Graders: Carefree Performances Despite Extensive Scripts

What could be better than seeing the people the evening is meant for having fun? As is the case every year, the 7th-grade theater workshop took place toward the end of the school year, and shortly after the event began, the young actors had the audience in stitches. In the nearly packed Forum, classes 7c, 7a, and 7b—in that exact order—shone with their plays, which they had each rehearsed alongside professional actors. This approach has proven successful for years: Professional actors help the students learn how to best use their bodies, voices, and stage presence when performing on stage in front of an audience.

What are the basic elements of theatrical performance? How do I create my own characters on stage and develop a script? And how do you gradually bring the whole thing to life on stage? — Throughout these steps, the professionals, as well as Steinmühlen teachers, provided guidance and assistance during the final phase of the last few weeks, helping to refine the production and take the essential step of running through it again and again from start to finish.

A Love of Performance and Playful Wit

“Cooperation among ourselves is also important,” explains Frank Wemme on behalf of the entire team. As spectators, we could certainly attest that he, his colleagues from Steinmühle, and the professional actors all demonstrated a great deal of imagination, a passion for performance, and a playful spirit when it came to the students. Also striking was the lightheartedness of the performances, despite the extensive amounts of dialogue. For the sake of completeness, it should be mentioned that, despite a few cases of illness, the performances were staffed by understudies and went off without a hitch.

“The Final Boss” was the performance with which Class 7c opened the evening. Dagmar Müller and Michael Köckritz directed this piece. The second play, “Krakow’s Theater,” was performed by Class 7a under the direction of Nina Merzenich and Frank Wemme. The evening concluded with the neighborhood stories presented by Class 7b, directed by Frank Wemme and Michael Pietsch. In every case, the cheerful energy spread from the stage to the audience. The occasional well-known song that fit the scene—such as “Macarena,” “Cotton Eye Joe,” or “Eye of the Tiger”—created a lively atmosphere at just the right moments. But there was something to feast your eyes on as well as your ears: Many of the costumes on display were on loan from the Hessian State Theater and, combined with professionally designed lighting—for which Frank Wemme was responsible this time—contributed to the impressive overall effect.