Tickets are free and available on a first come first served basis. Priority is given to children who attend a German Saturday School.
Have you ever wanted to act, be creative and engage with Austrian literature in a fun way? Now is your chance!
We are excited to announce this new opportunity for children at the ACF London.
In cooperation with the Association of German Saturday Schools UK and the German Saturday School Ealing, the ACF London invites bilingual children to take part in two theatre workshops inspired by Austrian children's book author Christine Nöstlinger who would have celebrated her 90th birthday this year.
The two workshops are tailored to the relevant age group and will take place at the Austrian Cultural Forum, led by Austrian teacher and actress Lena Liedl.
The workshops will be held in German and are two hours long. 10 mins before the end of each workshop a short sharing session with/for families will take place.
In 2026, the ACF London celebrates its 70th anniversary. Rather than celebrating the ACF itself, we want this to be an ACF – A Celebration of Friends, and of others’ anniversaries and birthdays, such as Christine Nöstlinger’s 90th birthday.
What will happen in the workshops?
Drama is a great way to boost confidence, encourage speaking German in front of a group and have a fun introduction to Austrian children’s literature. We are using the works of Christine Nöstlinger as a starting point, who has created wonderful big and multi-facetted characters for us to play with.
The children will explore German language texts through drama and creativity, play theatre games, work on vocal exercises and songs, and develop a short theatre scene inspired by the material.
2:30 – 4:30 pm
Workshop One for children aged 6-8
Geschichten vom Franz
Franz is the smallest in his class, and on top of that, he has blond curls and a squeaky voice, and people often mistake him for a girl. And Franz's parents never let him watch TV, so he can't even join in the conversations at school. So, he quickly invents a programme that can only be seen with a special antenna: the story of an alien from the planet Gomel.
The stories of Franz are a cult-classic of Austrian children’s literature and deal with themes of friendship, family and growing up. Franz has a vivid imagination, and we will use this as an inspiration for our own creativity.
5 - 7 pm
Workshop Two for children aged 9-13
Das Austauschkind
Ewald's parents want only the best for him. That's why they bring an exchange student from England into the family so that Ewald can learn English properly: But Jasper is not what they expected: He shrugs off all the family rules, demands fish and chips, and prefers to spend his days at the Prater amusement park in Vienna.
We will use the story to explore cultural differences between Austria and the UK in a fun way. The children can bring in their own experiences of growing up in multi-lingual and multi-cultural families if they like.
About Lena Liedl
Lena Liedl is an Austrian actress and teacher at the German Saturday School Ealing. She trained at East 15 Acting School London and has appeared in multiple theatre productions at Greenwich Theatre, Bradford Playhouse and Smock Alley Dublin, as well as film projects.
For four months, she toured the UK and Ireland with a German-language play for children. Since 2021, she has been leading drama classes and workshops in elementary schools across London. As a teacher, she was awarded the Teacher Award 2025 by the Association of German Saturday schools for her project on Goethe for 7-8 year olds.
Please reserve tickets via email to office@acflondon.org.
Upon registration you will have to fill out a consent form.
