This year for the first time I.E.S. Maimónides took part in the English ATIFE Estrangis School Theatres Competition. For the last couple of months the theatre group (students from the 1º Bachillerato E and D as well as from 3ª ESO A) and their teachers (Antonia Pinilla Peinado, Ana Lesmes and Kasia Walburg) were working hard to prepare the play for the competition. We decided to present Hans Christian Andersen’s ´The Emperor’s New Clothes’ however in a modern context. Therefore, the Emperor was transformed into a multimillionaire, Mr Carrington, his Prime Minister into his Personal Assistant and the members of the court into Secretaries and Employees. The Tricksters became fashion designers, Sbagliato and Ladroni though they stayed as bad as they were originally. We titled our play ‘Mr Carrington’s New Clothes’ (you can read the script here).

As regards costumes we were supported by a real designer, who designed the style of clothes for our characters (you can have a look at her designs here). To create the scenery the participants of the competition are asked to create a PowerPoint presentation (here) as they cannot have too many props on stage. Our presentation was made by Kasia Walburg and Ana Lesmes.

Finally, our IT teacher, Javier Leon, recorded the final version of the play and we submitted it for the competition. On the 30th and 31st of March 2009 (and also in April, date to be decided on) you will have a chance to see the play at school. You can also have a look at the official blog of the ATIFE Estrangis where we presented our play to other participants of the competition.