Flying Fish

Im Januar 2010 trat das „Flying Fish Theatre“ mit seinem Stück „Multiple Choice“ in der Mensa des OSZ auf. Zuschauer waren Schüler der E-Phasen und des 2. Semesters der Kursphase. Das in englischer Sprache aufgeführte, ca. 60-minütige Stück thematisierte die Schwierigkeiten Jugendlicher, am Ende der Schulzeit die richtigen Entscheidungen über den weiteren Lebensweg zu treffen, ohne sich dabei selbst zu verlieren.

Visits to the English Theatre Berlin

In November 2010 and in May 2011 students from our school visited the English Theatre Berlin in Kreuzberg.

In November two courses majoring in English watched the play “A Number” by Caryl Churchill dealing with the topic of “Human Cloning”. Under the course topic of “Global Issues – Visions of the Future” students read and talked about Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” which drafts a vision of a standardized, regulated human society. 

In the play “The Number” Bernard (2) learns that he is an illegal clone of his “brother” Bernard (B1) who was supposedly killed in a car accident together with his mother. The confrontation of the two and their finding out about their past ends fatally. The play raises the question of identity and the everlasting conflict about “nature” and “nurture”.

In May, a group of 10 students from 11th and 12th grade watched the play “Summer and Smoke” by Tennessee Williams – a forerunner of Williams’ most famous play “A Streetcar Named Desire” with a similar cast of characters, setting and topic. Some students from this group will be studying “A Streetcar Named Desire” in their Leistungskurs next term.

Both performances went down well with the students who wished for outings like these to be repeated. For most of the students it was their first visit to an English theatre so this was not only a language lesson but also an experience of the lively atmosphere of theatre. Consequently students were impressed by the good acting and enjoyed being so close to the scene of action. (Actually, the English Theatre Berlin is a very small theatre hosting only about 100 people audience. So you really are close to the stage.)

We can only hope that this little theatre will receive some government funding (as promised) so that students’ tickets will become a bit cheaper. What we can promise for the time being is that we will return.

Ute Bartetzko
Head of Modern Languages