Wednesday, 13th March, saw a lively and energetic performance of Panto Pandemonium by 3D and 1D.

The story is about four kids (Sima, Asma, Hersh and Sullivan) who get stuck in Pantoland because the Wicked Witch (fabulous performance by Hanne Vera) eradicated all good magic. The children meet the Good Fairy (Katelyn), Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk (Victoria) and the giant (Linda), the three sisters from Cinderella (Marlene, Irina, Elena) and Aladdin (Abel) along the way. Martin and Jack also see some funny looking dwarves (Vanessa, Taha, Uros, Fabienne, Sora, Justin and Selina from 1D) from Snow White, who are definitely not supposed to be in Jack and the Beanstalk. The children’s task is to collect three magic objects to give them their magic back. Boo (Emma) and Hiss (Lena) are there to interact with the audience. They provoke the audience to boo and hiss at the baddies and cheer the goodies. After collecting all of the magic items, the good magic is restored. There is only one thing left to do now, namely to bring the horrible witch onto the good side. The finale begins as the cruel helpers of the witch, Spotty (Clara) and Grotty (Sara), finally see the value of being good. Then they convince the Wicked Witch to step into the light too. A fine end to a fine story. At the end, Moo (Mia) and Tail (Robin), the cow head and tail whom the witch has cut in half, finally reunite after desperately searching for each other throughout the whole story. That is the vast magic of this panto realm. (Lena, 3D)

Now, some of you are probably wondering what a Pantomime is. It is a sort of British play and a mix of comedy, musical and fairy tale. The audience has a role, too. If you go to watch a pantomime, you have to know that you must join in. The actors and actresses will show you when and how. You have to clap, sing and boo or hiss if necessary. The 1D class played the role of the audience in our performance (because a lot of parents who were watching our play are not familiar with the panto tradition) and they were really good at it. (Linda, 3D)

In my opinion, this pantomime brought the whole class joy and we all grew a little bit closer. Besides that, everyone was having fun, even though the rehearsals were hard work. And we also learned how to take on big responsibilities, to be organised, to care about others, to have patience, to deal with microphones, to act, and so much more exciting stuff. (Irina, 3D)

Our class grew really close over the past few weeks and became very supportive of each other. Behind the stage we laughed, practised and above all, praised each other very often. We helped and comforted each other in difficult situations, until the hard work turned into a fantastic performance that will remain unforgettable. (Marlene, 3D)

I learned that there was a lot of hidden talent in our class and that plays like this can be real fun. The rehearsals were hard work, But in the end, it was well worth it. Seeing the class annoy each other with the lines of their characters, or just randomly start singing the songs of the Panto (they will be stuck in our heads forever) was kind of heartwarming. (Lena, 3D)

Last but not least, a big thank you to all the teachers who spent countless hours practising with us. There’s Mr. Stockenreitner, who was responsible for the music and sound engineering, Ms. Hilgarth-Csencsics, who developed our choreography and Ms. Pedarnig, who designed our stage props with 4D. A special shout-out goes to our makeup artists and the stage workers from 4D. The biggest thanks goes to our English teacher, Mrs Simpson-Parker. She was the mastermind of this production and made sure we had everything we needed to make the performance as memorable as possible. (Irina, 3D)