A passion for Shakespeare and the ambition to work in theatre has brought together schools in Germany and Wales.

The Shakespeare Players

Merthyr Tydfil College in Wales were looking for an international partner to work with on drama productions.

They struck gold when they were put in touch with “The Shakespeare Players”, a drama group at Friedrich-Ebert-Oberschule in Berlin. This summer, the schools are exchanging productions of The Taming of the Shrew.

The German students work with teacher Martina Baasner who describes herself as “Berlin’s greatest Shakespeare enthusiast” to stage Shakespeare plays.

They perform the plays in English as both English and Shakespeare are part of the German school curriculum.

"Two Countries, One Play"

The link was established in 2007 when the Welsh students visited Germany to perform Macbeth.

The German group were keen to reciprocate with their performance of The Comedy of Errors but the cast was so big that they couldn’t fit all the students in the two mini buses to travel to Wales.

This year, both groups have decided to perform the same play as part of an exchange between the two countries.

The motto for the project is "Two casts, two countries, one play”. Casts from Wales and Germany will perform and discuss their interpretations of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.

Working together has given both groups an unusual and unexpected take on the play.

An International View

“The students are really excited,” explained Martina Baasner. “It’s great for them to take an international view by seeing how young people in different countries interpret and perform a play.”

The students met for workshops to discuss how they approached their parts and have been keeping in touch through an online discussion forum.

The Welsh take on the play is a fast-paced performance. The German group have to cater for their audience for whom English is a second language. They rely more heavily on body language and expressions to convey the points.

A Misogynistic Play?

The two groups have taken different approaches to the subject matter of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew which some modern audiences consider to be a misogynistic play.

The Welsh group stressed the patriarchal society of the play by choosing the 1940s as the setting, illustrating why Kate has little choice but to obey her Father.

The German students took a different attitude, adapting the play. “I slightly changed Kate’s last speech so that she doesn't come across as an absolute doormat,” Martina Baasner explained.

Next year, the groups plan to meet for a week in Shakespeare's birth place, Stratford upon Avon, and work on a new play together.

They are going to devise a follow up to Shakespeare’s Love’s Labours Lost. The short play will be entitled Love’s Labours Won and will pick up where Shakespeare’s play leaves off.

How did they do that?

Friedrich-Ebert-Oberschule will perform their version of The Taming of the Shrew at Merthyr Tydfil College on July 8th.

The schools got in touch through the British Council.

The project is funded by the UK German Connection.

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