More than 100 students from across Luxembourg, the UK and Cyprus will perform some of Shakespeare’s best-loved plays in a festival at the Abbaye de Neumünster in Luxembourg-Grund on Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 January 2026.
The Shakespeare Schools Festival Luxembourg, organised by Luxembourg’s St George’s International School, will feature around 60 students from the school, along with performances by students from International School Michel Lucius (Luxembourg), Danes Hill School (Surrey, UK) and Pascal Private School (Cyprus).
St George’s Principal Zeba Clarke said: "It is wonderful to see young students get to grips with Shakespeare's perceptive handling of complex themes and personalities; performance is definitely the best way to get children engaged and involved in his extraordinary world. The interpretations that our young performers bring to the stage are vivid, fun and engaging."
British actor Kieran Donnelly, who specialises in Shakespeare, will adjudicate, providing verbal and written feedback to the young actors, as well as a warm-up for all participants at the start of the festival.
Ahead of the event, Chronicle.lu spoke to Festival Director Clare Williams about the challenges of organising the festival.
Chronicle.lu: Please describe the process and challenges of selecting which works will be performed at the festival.
Clare Williams: Choosing a play which can be adapted and edited down to 30 minutes is a challenge. Most of Shakespeare's plays last around to four hours in total so working out which part of each story will be the most interesting for a young audience is a fun part of the process, shortly followed by adding lots of creative ideas, such as songs, dance routines and elaborate costumes to bring the story to life. The students learn the stories first and they develop an understanding of the text as the rehearsals progress.
Chronicle.lu: How do the teachers and students approach the assignment of adapting an original text to fit the shorter performance times and smaller production values of the festival?
Clare Williams: Using a limited number of props and set leads to greater creativity. We are always asking students how they can tell their stories using their voices and their bodies in the space. It is a valuable part of the learning for students to work with what they have, go back to good old-fashioned storytelling without the need for high production values. The venue technicians at the Abbaye are incredible and they provide high-quality production values through lights and sound. They have also allowed our senior technical students to operate the light and sound desks in previous years, adding a fabulous opportunity for our students who want to work in technical theatre.
Chronicle.lu: Please go into detail about the involvement of the students in other aspects of the production, such the costumes, lighting and sound, and how this work ties in with the design and choreographing of the performances.
Clare Williams: We make considerable efforts to ensure that these productions are as student-led as possible. The texts are teacher taught and the rehearsals are facilitated by the teachers, but students are given the roles of production manager, student director and choreographer alongside students responsible for sound, lights, costume, props and make up. We even have a student fight choreographer this year! We want them to have as much involvement as possible in every aspect of their shows so that they develop an understanding of all aspects of theatre, both onstage and off.
Chronicle.lu: What has surprised you most about the students’ approach/reactions to preparing for the festival and the challenges of bringing 16th and 17th century works to life in the 21st century?
Clare Williams: In student speak I would say that it is “The Vibe” These last two weeks in school have been exciting and full of energy as students in the festival are in the drama spaces every lunchtime working on their pieces. There is dancing and singing in the corridors and students in costumes all around the school. The atmosphere that comes with having an entire year group preparing for a big show is electric. The younger students know that they have the festival coming up and they look forward to it. Imagine that, students excited about a Shakespeare project... it is like magic.
Three plays will performed each night, featuring Shakespearean language and contemporary music, and varying from 20 to 30 minutes in length.
Tickets cost €7 per person.
Tickets for the performance on Wednesday 21 January can be booked at https://app.classlist.com/events/#/events/view/1407120795.
Tickets for the performance on Thursday 22 January can be booked at https://app.classlist.com/events/#/events/view/1360981866.
