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From: UniReport 6.24, author: Dr. Dirk Frank

A classic with a contemporary twist: The Chaincourt Theatre Company is performing Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”

The Chaincourt Theatre Company at Goethe University Frankfurt is performing Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” in the 2024/25 winter semester

“Time is out of joint!” Shakespeare’s protagonist Hamlet begins the eponymous play with these words describing a time of political upheaval, uncertainty about the future and untrustworthy leaders. Although Shakespeare’s Hamlet was first performed more than 400 years ago, it couldn’t be more topical: Time is indeed out of joint.

This year, the Chaincourt Theatre Company dares to tackle Shakespeare’s Hamlet, one of the world’s most famous and challenging plays. Following his father’s death, Hamlet, the crown prince of Denmark, returns to the Danish court, only to discover that his uncle has ascended the throne and married his mother. What’s more, his father’s ghost is haunting the court with terrible news and a mission for Hamlet: revenge. What follows is a story full of intrigue, questions of individual responsibility, love and madness.

Consisting of a cast of students from various faculties, Goethe University Frankfurt’s Chaincourt Theatre Company consists of new and familiar faces both on and offstage. The group is led by James Fisk, a lecturer in English and English Studies at the Institute for English and American Studies, who is also the theater’s artistic director. “Join us in travelling to a time out of joint and enjoy the resulting performance, characterized by a combination of ambitious new arrivals and years of acting and theater experience,” Fisk says. Performances are in English and take place on the stage in the IG-Farbenhaus annex.

Performances: Premiere on January 31; further shows on February 1, 6, 7 and 8. The performance starts at 7:30 pm. Venue: Room NG 1.741, IG Farbenhaus annex, Campus Westend.

Tickets: 10 €/5 € (discount) – tickets are available at the box office one hour before the performance begins (no advance booking).

Contact: James Fisk (artistic director), fisk@em.uni-frankfurt.de

 or via Instagram @chaincourttheatre

More than 25 students followed Prof. Dr. Stefanie Frisch's (IEAS) invitation to take part in a workshop on the eTwinning program on 4 December. The European Commission's initiative networks teachers across Europe to facilitate joint educational projects across national borders. The aim of Klaudia Gebhardt's workshop (Lehrkräfteakademie Hessen & Steinhöfelschule Hildesheim/Mainz) was to present the project to interested students and to explain its potentials as well as its difficulties in practice.

The programme offers a network of European schools via the internet and the possibility of establishing partnerships (Erasmus+) and carrying out joint educational projects. Since 2022, this has been done through the “European School Education Platform”. Interested teachers and students can gain access via the university or their school. The platform can be used to start projects together with partners from other countries, find partners for one’s own projects, or discover existing projects by other teachers across Europe.

Klaudia Gebhardt shared many examples of best practices from her work with eTwinning. Topics ranged from sharing winter festival traditions to conducting experiments together in order to better understand the causes of the climate change. Although it can be difficult to motivate all the students at first, most of them quickly see the benefits and are enthusiastic about the project, says Klaudia Gebhardt. „It may not help to get rid of prejudices, but it does help to reduce them,” she says of her experience with the programme, which she underlines with many positive examples from students. Students may even make contacts beyond the school project. Prof. Dr. Stefanie Frisch concluded: „These examples show us the variety of possibilities there are. In every project, intercultural learning was promoted to some extent.“

You can find more information on eTwinning at: https://school-education.ec.europa.eu/en/etwinning/about

Symposium and Book Launch

04 Dec 2024, Casino 1.801

18:00-20:00 & Zoom

Insurgent Cultures. World Literatures and Violence from the Global South (Cambridge University Press, 2024) by Pavan Kumar Malreddy.

With Sinan Antoon (New York), Delphine Munos (Liège), Miriam Nandi (Leipzig), Tom McCarthy (Berlin) and Auritro Majumder (Houston)

Chair: Frank Schulze-Engler

Participation via Zoom is possible: https://zoomto.me/OUO5Z | Passcode: 878754

Contact: c.argast@em.uni-frankfurt.de

Organized by
ConTrust—Trust in Conflict, the Forum of Global Anglophone Literatures and Cultures & The Department of New English Literatures and Cultures