Theater Project Classes with a Multilingual Twist
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Project class 400 Years of Molière in summer 2022
Photo: sz/hr
Project class 400 Years of Molière in summer 2022
Photo: sz/hr
Project class 400 Years of Molière in summer 2022
Photo: sz/hr
Project class 400 Years of Molière in summer 2022
Photo: sz/hr
Discovering Theater - Winter 2022/23
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Discovering Theater - Winter 2022/23
Photo: sz/hr
Using Theater for Your Language Needs - Summer 2023
Photo: sz/hr
Using Theater for Your Language Needs - Summer 2023
The experiment started in the summer of 2022, the year of Molière’s 400th anniversary celebration. Driven by the idea to explore a fascinating topic in a mixed-language setting where participants should communicate in English, French, and German throughout the class—without necessarily speaking all of these languages—we launched a new project class format.
In fact, it is sufficient for participants to speak only one of the three languages at level B2 or higher. Through this, these project classes allow students to work in a multicultural context while actively practicing their language skills in all three languages (be it verbal communication, listening comprehension, or vocabulary building) along with their practical intercultural communication skills.
The project classes are taught by Dr. Henriette Runte, our Head of the Department of Modern Languages at the Language Center, who, among many other things, holds a PhD in French literature with a focus on French Theater and Sociology.
This very successful project class format is being offered for the third time this summer semester 2023.
Each semester, the classes explore and discuss different topics and aspects on the subject of theater, the development of theater throughout the centuries and in different countries, as well as its cultural significance. Scenes from different theater plays in the various languages are read, discussed, practiced, and translated. The participants also write short scenes of their own using classical archetypes from the plays covered in class.
The format started in summer 2022 and in celebration of Molière’s Anniversary Year focused primarily on the works of this very famous French playwright. In winter 2022/23, the class focused on the development of theater in the world, with an emphasis on the U.S., France, and Germany, well into contemporary times.
The final projects from the Molière class can be seen on our website, the project for the class “Discovering Theater” will be up on our website shortly.
In this upcoming summer semester 2023, the project class will follow this up by exploring theater movements in modern times, also with a focus on plays written by English, French, and German playwrights.
Summer 2023
Using Theater for Your Language Needs - Une langue étrangère et le théâtre - Sprachenlernen durch Theater
We will discuss the development of theater in the world (but mainly in the USA, France and Germany), as well as the cultural and sociological implications it has. The focus is on improving your language skills through role-playing exercises, reading scenes and plays, coming up with projects, and communicating within the classroom in this trilingual setting.
This semester's project class explored the complexity of communication in 3 languages through various forms of dialogue. We started out by reading plays, writing and performing various skits, and by engaging in improvised theatrical conversations. But somehow, we gravitated more and more to abstract dialogue in the form of song lyrics and poetry. We explored various ways of generating actual dialogue through existing songs and poems taken from all three languages (English, French, and German).
As our final project, we decided to write a love poem in three languages. In the pictures, you see the final stages of our writing process, in which we wrote the various lines on actual pieces of paper and then finally allowed for our love story to be born. We have decided to call this poem and this project: Trilingual Love.
We hope you enjoy the video, in which the student recite the poem in its entirety.
Poem video: Trilingual Love (video, MOV)
Winter 2022/23
Discovering Theater – Nous découvrons le théâtre – Entdeckungsreise in der Welt des Theaters
This semester’s project class will discuss the development of theater in the world (but mainly in the USA, France and Germany) and discuss the cultural and sociological implications while attempting to communicate in turns in English, French and German.
As their final class projects, the students created videos, soundbites, and texts giving their own interpretation of classic plays and outlined the history of theater throughout the ages.
Video: History of Theater (video, MOV)
Comic Strip - a modern interpretation of "Les Précieuses Ridicules" (PDF)
Hamlet & His Lover - a modern interpretation of Romeo & Juliet (sound file, MP3)
A scene from Molière’s "The Imaginary Invalid" (in its original version and a rewrite produced by our students) (sound file, MP3); read along in the text version (PDF)
Molière’s "The Absurd Précieuses" - a modern version (PDF)
Summer 2022
400 Years of Molière – 400 ans de Molière – 400 Jahre Molière
As the world celebrates Molière's 400th anniversary, this project class introduces you to one of France’s most illustrious and still popular masters of the stage and satire. You will explore and discuss his historical, cultural, and literary impact in presentations and readings at public places that you will be organizing in mixed-language teams.
As a final class project, the students practiced the pronunciation for many hours and then read the selected text in the language they were least familiar with.
English Version (Video, MOV)
French Version (Video, MOV)
German Version (Video, MOV)