Student showcases 2025: Acting
We were thrilled to celebrate the achievements and talents within our acting community at the 2025 Acting Showcase, held at Neue Bühne Friedrichshain.
Conceptualised as a collaborative showcase, the Showcase saw students from different year groups coming together to present their work from the year. Tied together with a Shakespearian theme, the Showcase featured monologues, duologues and a sung ensemble performance.
BA (Hons) Acting for Stage, Screen and Digital Media lecturer Chiara von Galli directed the Showcase, which brought family and friends together to witness students’ progress.
Furthering our students’ skills in a professional setting
This year’s showcase put the collaborative nature of the course in focus, seeing students from different stages of their degree perform together. With a focus on Shakespearian classical text, students had the freedom to experiment and find their own interpretations of Shakespeare’s works.
This aspect created a Showcase particularly unique in the view of Course Leader Sarah Marecek, who we spoke to after the Showcase:
“With our students hailing from dozens of different countries and cultures, the Showcase allowed them to explore Shakespeare with their own voice and accent. Each student built their own relationship to the text, drawing on where they come from as inspiration.”
Alongside this, the Showcase provided an opportunity for students to work in a working theatre in front of a live audience.
Selecting pieces and casting
The selection of pieces for the Showcase took place over the course of a full workshop day. Lecturers encouraged students to present work they were most proud of and would feel confident performing. Following this, students further developed and polished their pieces during classes over the course of three months.
This approach created a safe space for students to take part in the Showcase, giving them agency to work refine a piece they were passionate about to performance standard.
Challenging gender norms and a powerful ensemble performance
The Showcase’s format allowed for a diverse catalogue of work that ranged from monologues and duologues to an ensemble vocal performance. This diversity contributed to an attention-grabbing showcase, where every piece was truly different, as Sarah Marecek explained:
“There was so much going on in the Showcase. For instance, we had students who took on Romeo & Juliet, reversing the gender roles of the characters in a really intelligent way. There were singing performances, a comedic version of Taming of the Shrew, and a dramatic performance of a scene from Macbeth that gave me goosebumps.
For me, though, the highlight had to be the sung ensemble performance. All our students participated in this, which was really heartwarming for me as a Course Leader. Seeing our first-years learn from second-year students (and vice-versa!) was incredible.”
A successful evening showing the best of student work
It was a pleasure to welcome so many of our acting students’ family and friends to the Showcase. With the international nature of our student-body, audience members travelled from far-and-wide to support.
At the same time, they got to experience a working venue in Berlin and witness the progress of our students during their training.
The opportunity to perform publicly in a supportive environment is crucial for actors’ development, as Sarah touched on:
“When you’re in training, its so important to have access to performance environments where you feel safe and have trust in the audience. As an actor, this allows you to let go and truly immerse yourself in the performance.
As an Academic Team, we knew from the beginning that we wanted the Showcase to offer this environment to students as it provides the best conditions to get feedback. You need people to tell you whether what you’re doing is good, what can be improved. You need to see people having fun, laughing or crying. You don’t get that same experience in a rehearsal space. Only through true public performance, on stage, can you get the response you need to grow.“
A huge congratulations to all that took part in this year’s Acting Showcase. We cannot wait to see what students bring to next year’s edition.
Images: Johann Kreßin (@johannsphotos)
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