A multilingual and musical theatre
Prothélan, or Projet de Théâtre en Langues (Language Theatre Project), was initiated in 2014. The aim of this ambitious project? To encourage a range of artistic activities around the production of a musical and multilingual play. On a universal issue, the play follows a storyline linking scenes from the classical and the contemporary repertoire, each performed in their original language. In 2014-15, it was Polyglove, which dealt with love in German, English, Spanish, Italian and French. Locomotive, dedicated to madness, added Alsatian to these languages in 2015-16. This year, Prothélan is back with Womancipation, a play on the theme of women’s affirmation, in which Alsatian has been replaced by Portuguese.
A language pedagogy through multilingual theatre
While the creation of an original, high-quality dramatic play is the official objective, the spirit of the Prothélan project is first of all educational and civic. The main idea is to make it easier for actors to familiarise themselves with a foreign language thanks to the sensitive and global approach of the project. Moreover, it is a question of promoting the intercultural competence among young people from more than fifteen different countries.
Independent training
Around a core group of students from the Bachelor’s degree Applied Foreign Languages (LEA), the troupe brings together about sixty young artists. Whether they are amateurs or in the process of learning, they are all trained to the many functions of the theatrical world.
Depending on their talents and wishes, the members of the troupe can develop various skills by evolving in these roles: actor, director, set designer, costume designer, hairdresser and make-up artist, lighting and sound director, communicator, graphic designer, writer, singer, musician, treasurer, coordinator, supertitler.
A civic theatre
As a space for citizen life, Prothélan encourages the expression, reflection and participation of all its members in the many decisions that must be made to carry out such a complex project. To do so, collegial meetings are held monthly with all volunteers.
A recognised artistic project
Prothélan is an innovative, educational and artistic project funded by the University of Strasbourg and the Crous (regional centres for university and school works). It received the support of the IdEx programme “Réussite étudiante” (“student success”) and of the Ministry of Culture as an encouragement to an initiative of excellence in the field of amateur artistic creation. Besides, Prothélan has allowed and still allows several students to complete an internship to complete their master’s degree in language didactics.
For any further information, do not hesitate to contact us. We look forward to sharing your talents!
