In recent weeks our Year 8 and Year 9 French and German students have been treated to a lively and engaging performance by Onatti Productions, whose entertaining plays are designed to support language learning. The plays are performed entirely in the languages by native-speaking actors.

German play: Das Gruselhaus

When best friends get caught in a thunderstorm during a hike, they take shelter in a creepy, abandoned house deep in the woods. At first, it seems like a perfect place to wait out the storm. But strange things start to happen: weird noises, furniture moves and there is a strange feeling about the place. ​Just as they start to regret sheltering there, a police officer knocks on the door with some disturbing news: a prisoner has escaped nearby, and they must stay inside this house. ​Left on their own they try to figure out if the house really is haunted.

Ms Eckert, Head of German, said of the play, “The students watched a play fully in German and realised that they do not understand every word to understand what is going on. They really enjoyed experiencing German in a creative way. We had fantastic participation from Nalini W  and Minerva F, being parts of the play with Minerva helping to solve a riddle and Nalini playing an unprepared role. The girls were also eager to ask the German actresses a lot of questions on acting and language. It was a lovely afternoon of showcasing the German language in a different way and giving our students confidence in realising how much they know and how varied language is.”

French play: RSVP

Léa and Théo are the ultimate “YOLO” couple, so when Léa decides they are going to throw a big party tomorrow, it’s all go, go, go. There’s just one small problem: No venue, no food, no outfits, no invites sent, no theme and no real idea! With just hours to organise the perfect (and very French) party, chaos takes over. 

What our students thought:

By Anna T, Year 9

“I found the French play really interesting and funny. The boy in the play was really entertaining to watch because of his dancing. I found it really fun when people volunteered to go up and some other girls in my year got called up which made me laugh. The girl in the play was amusing because she kept interrupting the guy when he tried to dance. I think I understood most of the play. It was about this couple who were trying to throw a party and how they would be ‘together forever’. They both invited their parents and the boy’s parents couldn’t speak French and neither the girl’s parents or the girl could speak English, so there was a lot of miscommunication which was really funny. Overall, I really enjoyed the play and I would definitely want to see more French plays in the future.”

By Ada, Year 9

“I was engrossed by how the actors portrayed the storyline. The whole audience was captivated by the comedic features. I especially enjoyed when the boy was dancing and he kept on getting disrupted which got the whole audience laughing hysterically. Furthermore, I volunteered to go up on stage as a chef with five other volunteers, I thought this interactive experience was greatly entertaining because I got to practise my French by acting which was quite nerve-wrecking but a great chance to talk French by interacting with other fluent French speakers. The actors showed lots of emotions and used hand gestures which was effective because it made it easier for the audience to understand what they were saying. I feel immense gratitude that we were able to have this amazing opportunity and I speak for everyone when I say that it was very enjoyable and charming.”