Junior College Drama Group in Heidelberg

Nineteen students from the University Junior College have just successfully completed a drama project in the Rhein-Neckar area of Germany. It was part of a student exchange programme set up between the college and the Louise-Otto-Peters-Schule of Weisloch. The project involved three performances of the English play by David Campton, Us and Them.

All the students found the experience immensely rewarding in personal, educational and cultural terms. They put up three well-received performances in three different venues: the Louise-Otto-Peters-Schule in Weisloch, the Marie-Baum-School in Heidelberg, and the Schwetzingen Vocational School.

In all three performances, the Maltese group played to assembly halls packed with German students and their teachers, who were very impressed by their verve and creativity. For the Junior College students, the experience was personally and educationally rewarding, for it gave them a chance to display their talents in acting, singing, dancing and backstage work to an attentive and highly appreciative foreign audience.

The whole project is in fact an example of the educational goal which the University Junior College has set for itself in giving as far as possible to its students an integral preparation that forms and enhances both the intellect and the character.

To enrich and complement this drama project the college students, who were hosted by German students and their families, were engaged in other related cultural activities during their twelve day stay in Germany. The German organisers, Dr Volker Kronemayer and Gina Schneck, prepared a rich and varied cultural itinerary that included a visit to Mannheim's National Theatre and Opera House, the enchanting Schwetzingen Castle Theatre, the ancient 'Roman' city of Ladenburg, the Cathedral city of Speyer, Heidelberg Castle and Ancient Town, Hockenheim and many other beautiful places of this culturally rich region of Germany.

Overall, it was a stimulating and educationally rewarding experience for all those involved, and one hopes and appeals that in the future many such projects can be made available for both College and University students.

The Maltese drama group was led by college lecturers Charles Sammut, who directed the play, Frank Boffa, director of the college's EU Centre, and Charles Caruana, co-ordinator of cultural and health promotion activities at the Junior College.