Abbaye de Neumünster Hosts Shakespeare Schools Festival

On Wednesday 5 February 2025, the Abbaye de Neumünster in Luxembourg-Grund hosted the first night of the two-day Shakespeare Schools Festival.

Featuring students from Luxembourg’s St George’s International School, Lycée Michel Lucius and the New World Theatre Youth Club, as well as schools from France, the UK and Cyprus, the evening began with opening remarks from Clare Williams, drama teacher at St George's School, who welcomed the near 300 strong audience, as well as the staff and pupils who were set to bring their various productions to the stage. Director of the Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg, Tom Leick-Burns, then delivered a rousing speech to encourage those who would be performing, reflecting on his own involvement in various productions of Shakespeare throughout his esteemed career.

As the lights dimmed in the impressive wooden-beamed room on the second floor of the Abbaye, the young actors from St George’s International School (Luxembourg) took to the stage to deliver their take on Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Featuring a mix of the original text and amusing additions of modern parlance and slang, it was a lighthearted spin on Shakespeare’s classic tale of rivalry and revenge, reconfigured as an adventure of three young people vacationing on an island, and it set the tone for the evening ahead.

Next up were the students from Lycée Ombrosa (Lyon, France) with their post modern adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Kicking off with a catwalk entrance through the audience, their updated take focused on the relationship between the King and Queen of the Fairies, Oberon and Titania, and, in a meta fashion, encapsulated the characters of The Mechanicals, the amateur actors from the original version of Shakespeare’s multi-plot comedy.

It was then the turn of the visiting Danes Hill School (Surrey, UK) to tackle the weightiest of Shakespeare’s works, Macbeth. Featuring possibly the largest ensemble of the evening, their solid interpretation of “the Scottish play”, worked well as a condensed version of the original, and included a well received repurposing of Santana’s classic track “Black Magic Woman”. Concentrating on the predictions of the three witches as a catalyst for the rise and downfall of the Scottish General and his wife, Lady Macbeth, it was a fast paced and confident take on Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy.

After a short interval, the PASCAL Private Secondary School (Cyprus) took to the stage to deliver their interpretation of another of Shakespeare’s great tragedies, Othello. With a production punctuated with dramatic music and a swirling, suffocating dance troupe which enveloped the main characters, they delivered a dramatic take of the manipulation of the military commander by his traitorous ensign, Iago.

Lastly, the audience was treated to St George’s International School (Luxembourg) and their version of, possibly, the most famous of all of Shakespeare’s works, Romeo and Juliet. Taking a leaf from Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 film adaptation of the play, it utilised modern music and language, as well as some hilarious narration, to serve up a pop culture-fuelled take of this tragic tale of young love and family rivalry.

With a receptive audience, the historical beauty of the venue, and an entertaining mix of alternative takes on works by the Bard, it was undoubtedly a successful evening for all involved.

The second night of performances, on Thursday 6 February 2025, will feature a further interpretation of The Tempest as well as versions of Much Ado About Nothing and Hamlet.

SM