The 21st edition of the International Festival of School and Youth Theatre in German Expression, in collaboration with the "Nikolaus Lenau" Theoretical High School, will take place at the German State Theatre in Timișoara from 24 to 27 April 2023.

After the pandemic that has annihilated the arts and many other fields, we are ready to hold the 21st edition of the International German-speaking School and Youth Theatre Festival . The festival will take place on 24.04/27.04. It is an honour for us to present performances by young people from Croatia, Germany and Romania in the Cultural Capital. Of course, this year again, the hosts of the festival are NiL theatre groups, who will present some of their performances. Also this year we have workshop leaders from Germany and Romania as guests. We are proud to say that some of the former NiL members, who have become actors and theatre teachers, will coordinate these workshops. In conclusion: whatever times we live in, THEATRE MUST EXIST!

The workshops that will take place during the four days of the festival are aimed at young people who want to improve their vocal-linguistic skills for the stage in the German language. Body, vocal and pronunciation exercises will be presented and the differences between Romanian and German pronunciation will be discussed. These theoretical basics will be reinforced and tested on spoken texts. Participants are invited to bring German texts of their choice.

About the festival, Lucian Vărșăndan, manager of TGST, said: In the coming days, the Youth Festival at our theatre will once again bring joy, enthusiasm and creativity to our stage and to the classrooms of "Nikolaus Lenau" High School. But we hope - all of us who were or are involved in the preparation and conception of this festival - that the experiences of these days will resonate with the young participants for a long time to come. And this is not only because the pool of young people who have been helped by this festival to find their profession and vocation is now considerable, but also because theatre is a game, and because in the game you can unleash your imagination, let off steam, befriend people from home and abroad and at the same time ask questions. And school and theatre are the right places for that.

Helene Wolf, principal of the "Nikolaus Lenau" Theoretical High School: During the pandemic, we could see what life is like without theatre, without NiL, without the Youth Theatre Festival and it was not good at all. All the more we look forward to seeing each other again, getting to know each other, exchanging, learning together at this year's German Theatre Festival for Youth. We would like to thank the German State Theatre Timisoara for keeping this event alive, the theatre educators, workshop and group leaders for their continued commitment and selfless support, as well as patrons and sponsors. Not only do we have a better understanding and deeper perception of theatre performances, but we can expect to have educated, critical and interested theatre consumers and even theatre producers in the future.

The programme of events can be found on the German Theatre website by going to the festival pages!
Admission to the festival is free and tickets can be picked up at the German Theatre box office!
See you at the festival!