by Herwig Wandschneider

Many in Southern Ontario are lamenting the fact that the German Community is slowly losing their language and culture. And then there are those, who actively work at trying to conserve both. One of the amazing groups dedicated to this task is the Theatre Group of the German Canadian Club in London, Ontario, headed by Mr. Hermann Szielasko.

His group recently came to Kitchener and presented "Der Liebesbrief", a comedy written by Hermann and three other members of his group. Props, stage, and costumes were created by the Group and taken with them to wherever they perform the play. They are just starting out. They have done the Concordia Club in Kitchener, and are doing their own club in London in mid- December.

Amazingly, the participants are originally from places like Brazil, Belgium, Ireland and other non-German places. However, most have German ancestry and speak or are learning German.

The story is about a love letter, whose author has the same initials (W.G.) as a wife’s loving husband. The confusion is eventually and happily unwound, but the portrayal of the characters - and their action in the interim – ranges at times from humorous to hilarious. The audience reeled in laughter several times as Hermann characterized Grandfather Oskar, for example. Remarkably the playwrights unearthed colloquial words reminiscent of times gone by, which added to familiarity and humour.

The play was in the afternoon in the middle of the week. It made a great excuse to take some time off and the marginal cost of the ticket even included coffee and excellent cake.

The Theatre group wants to spread the German Word in an upbeat environment of a humorous play and they achieved that with flair. They are looking to present the play at other German Clubs and anyone interested can contact Hermann at (519) 681-6507 in London, ON.