The Bremen Town Musicians
A shadow play
Fairy tales are always an important topic in German lessons in all classes. This is also the case across disciplines in the Theater-AG.
At the beginning of this year, the AG - children of 4a, 4b and 4c took on the fairy tale of the Bremen Town Musicians. The text of the role developed from the story.
The self-made shadow figures were thrown onto a screen with the help of the overhead projector, so that the animals could be seen as shadow outlines on a background. As in the cinema, the children of all classes were able to follow the story very closely and supplement it with their own imagination. The members of the Theater-AG painted the backdrops themselves, resulting in a vivid performance that was enriched by musical elements.
The children chose the roles (narrator, speaker, shadow manger, musical cast) by mutual agreement. In doing so, they also got to know role criteria and learned how to shape the speaker roles with their language.
The cooperation in the team then led to two successful performances to which classes 1/2 and 3/4 were invited.
"Irma has such big feet"
The summer theater piece of the Theater - AG 2015
There are many beautiful plays for children, but there are always many more wonderful children's stories in patient books. Reading these is of course a great, personal adventure, and then translating them into living images is a particularly exciting thing for the little actors in the fourth grade of the primary school "Auf der Lieth".
The picture book "Irma has so big feet" - a classic - is a wonderful literary model for this purpose.
Important topics are "being laughed at",
"Be different" and "Take courage", which are our school mottos.
"Everyone is different - we learn together"
With short, cheeky dialogues, quick scene changes, funny costumes, impressive but few props and also own ideas for conversation, the play - with small changes in content - does justice to the literary original in a loving way and becomes an entertaining theater pleasure.
The preparation of the play took half a year. The children never tired of rehearsing, memorizing texts and constantly developing new ideas while playing. Even in the sixth hour, the motivation in the game was unbroken.
The players from 4a, 4b and 4c were: Chantal, Jasmine, Laura W., Laura H., Sara, Marwa, Fatima, Maya, Nicole, Marianna, Michelle, Alina, Adiba, Leonie
The Theater - AG presents this year's summer play 2014
"Pirates Don't Read"
Such a pack! What's up with the pirates?
The old captain of the pirate ship Black Bandit is tired of it!
He gives up his position and muscle Michi becomes his successor!
Under his leadership, they raid ships and loot all sorts of strange things. Is there anything to eat? Pirates are hungry too, so they're happy to have found a treasure map.
On their quest for treasure, they hope to find gold and money so they don't just have to eat potato soup.
Unfortunately, they dig unsuccessfully on Treasure Island because nobody can read the treasure map properly.
Schorsch Schlaumeier, whom they had locked in the basement because of his boasting, helps them. But now they are glad that he can decipher the letters. It is the lighthouse island where they find the treasure. They proudly carry it on their pirate ship.
In the end, the team realizes that everyone can do something together and that physical strength is not important.
Anyone who has brains and can read is strong!
So the pirates are now learning to read in the pirate school.
The children in grades 4a and 4b spent six months diligently learning their roles, painting backdrops and practicing acting. They looked for props and came up with costumes to match their roles. They had many ideas on how to present the story in the game. Even if someone was sick, someone else always stepped in! No problem at all, because nobody wanted to do without the rehearsals!
In the last week of school there were two big performances:
on Tuesday, July 1, 2014, 10 a.m. - 11 a.m. for grades 3 and 4 and for interested parents,
on Wednesday, July 2, 2014, 10 a.m. - 11 a.m. for classes 1 and 2 as well as parents and other interested parties. Even some of the school's neighbors joined the enthusiastic onlookers.
The AG - children played really freely especially in the second performance and did not want to stop at the end of the piece. They were willingly persuaded to give small samples of their skills when they were called "Encore".
The theater children said goodbye to each other with a pirate breakfast and nostalgically thought back to the good times they had together and had a lot of fun. Some hope that they can play theater again in the new school.
