Student playwright Hanne premieres her original work, Amare, to sold-out audience

When Amare premiered to a sold-out audience, it marked an extraordinary milestone for ISL Grade 12 student Hanne Siebens, who wrote the play and co-directed it with Tony Kingston of the Berliner Grundtheater. The production was praised in the Luxembourgish press for its emotional richness. During our conversation, Hanne shared that one of her earliest inspirations was her fifth-grade teacher, Mrs. Leader, who, coincidentally, is the mother of playwright Anna Leader, recently featured on our website for her own success in Luxembourg’s theatre scene. We sat down with Hanne to talk about her creative process, the experience of bringing Amare to life, and what this journey has meant to her.

Can you introduce yourself and tell us a little about your background? 

I'm Hanne Siebens, I'm 18 and currently in Grade 12. I'm originally from Belgium, but we've moved around quite a bit. We settled in Luxembourg when I was in fourth grade, so this is the longest we've lived in one place. Before that, we were in Ireland, and I’d love to go back there for university. It’s where I spent most of my childhood, and I feel most connected to it. Aside from school, I’m really into theater, obviously, since I wrote and co-directed Amare, and I also swim competitively. I'm on a break at the moment, but swimming has been a big part of my life too.

What inspired you to write Amare, and how did your love for Greek mythology and literature influence the play?

I started writing Amare at the end of Grade 10, just after the IGCSE exams. Writing has always helped me process feelings, and I had a few scattered scenes that all explored different kinds of love. That became the common thread. I set it aside for a while, but after working with Tony Kingston on Daisy Pulls It Off at BGT, I told him about the idea. Since he’d supported student work before, I showed him the scenes, and he encouraged me to keep going.

That summer, before Grade 12, I revisited the material and expanded it. It grew into a collection of personal experiences, imagined stories, and things I’d heard. But I knew I needed something more to hold it all together. Love alone wasn’t enough. I’ve always been drawn to Greek mythology ever since Percy Jackson. But when I started to read from other books, I discovered the myth of Cupid and Psyche. The idea of a god overwhelmed by a human emotion really struck me.

Cupid became the thread that ties the stories together. I used the beginning and end of that myth to frame the play. It gave it structure. A lot changed during rehearsals. Tony and I shaped it together, and the cast brought great ideas. It really evolved, and I’m proud of where it ended up.

Amare is structurally ambitious for a debut play, with interwoven storylines and cinematic shifts. Was that a deliberate stylistic choice, or did the story naturally evolve that way?

I think it was a bit of both. The structure just felt right for what I wanted to express. My main goal was to share different stories of love and to let the audience connect with at least one of them, maybe even experience a range of emotions through the variety of characters. I could have shaped it into a more linear story since there are connections between the characters, but I’ve always been drawn to work that pulls you around a bit. I enjoy more experimental storytelling, so I think it was inevitable that my first play would lean in that direction.

Reviews described Amare as "emotionally rich". That's a challenge when juggling multiple storylines and characters. How did you build emotional depth and connection across six different narratives?

That was something Tony and I really focused on during development. We did a lot of workshops to build the characters’ relationships beyond just their individual love stories. It wasn’t easy. There were moments over the summer where I’d just stare at my laptop and all my sticky notes, wondering how I’d ever make it work. At times, the stories felt too separate. But Tony mentioned films like Love Actually or Four Weddings and a Funeral, where multiple storylines are connected, often subtly, and you care about each one in a different way. That idea helped shape how we approached Amare: making sure the emotional thread wasn’t just the theme of love, but also these quiet connections and shared human experiences that linked the characters.

As both the writer and co-director, what has been the most rewarding part of this process?

When Tony first said yes to the idea, he asked if I wanted to act in it. I said no, because on opening night, I wanted to sit in the audience and watch the cast bring it to life. That moment, sitting there during the first performance, was honestly the most rewarding part. Surprisingly, it wasn’t the emotional scenes that hit me the most. It was when the audience burst out laughing at something I’d written. That moment nearly made me cry. Making people laugh together is so much harder than making them cry, and hearing that shared laughter made me realize just how powerful writing can be. That I could bring people into a story and let them feel something real. It was an incredible feeling.

The cast includes fellow ISL students. How has the school community contributed to this production?

Working with friends like Rewa, Josie, and Nina was a bit strange at first, but it quickly turned into something really special. They were incredibly supportive, listened, and contributed with so much professionalism. They’re also just really talented and open to experimenting, which made the creative process easier. Because we’d worked together before, they could almost read my mind at times. And while working with friends can sometimes be tricky, in this case it worked beautifully because of their professionalism and the trust we had in each other.

Have you been involved in theatre productions at ISL before? Is there a teacher who has particularly inspired or supported you?

Yes, I’ve done quite a few productions at ISL. I started out in Mr. Mackey’s Shakespeare plays, which was actually a great foundation. Classic text, structure, and, you know, the whole “you’re not a real actor until you’ve done Shakespeare” thing. So I ticked that box early on!

I also tried a musical once: Into the Woods. It was fun, but I quickly realized musicals aren’t really my thing (laughs). I'm pretty self-conscious about my singing, but it was still a good experience to step out of my comfort zone.

Mr. Hudson’s productions are more contemporary and experimental, which I love. He’s also my IB Theatre teacher now, and he's been a huge influence. He supports any idea I bring to him, no matter how out there. He creates space for experimentation, even when it leads to small failures, and that’s helped me grow and define my own style. This is something that shaped Amare a lot.

Mr. Mackey also had a big impact and taught me the fundamentals like projection, physicality, all those essential skills. Those stayed with me not just as a performer but also as a director.

And I have to mention Mrs. Leader, my fifth-grade teacher. She used to incorporate drama games into class, and I think that’s when I first really fell in love with theatre. It was a key moment. I realized this was something I could see myself doing long-term.

How did you get involved with Berliner Grundtheater, and what was it like working alongside Tony Kingston, who has been an advocate for new talent?

I first met Tony through Daisy Pulls It Off. My friend Josie had worked with him before, so I auditioned and got a part. That production was such a great experience. It was set in a girls’ school, and the cast was mostly teenage girls, so every rehearsal felt like a mix of hard work and fun. Tony created this perfect balance: a professional environment where we could still enjoy ourselves.

What I really appreciated about working with him was how specific he was with his direction. When he gave a note, it was clear, precise, and actionable. I’m a bit of a perfectionist and very organized, so that kind of clarity really worked for me.

I’m so grateful he took a chance on what probably felt like some random kid’s play. He gave me the space and support to try something big, and that gave me confidence. 

Tony and his wife are just genuinely kind, caring people. Anyone who’s worked with BGT knows it’s a safe, welcoming space. That kind of environment is rare and so important, especially in theatre, where it’s easy to lose confidence. They make sure you don’t.

How does it feel to see your debut play performed in such a professional setting and to a sold-out audience?

Honestly, I’m still processing it. During the performances, everything felt a bit surreal. I was so focused on logistics, giving the cast their notes, making sure things ran smoothly. But then, when the lights went down and the audience got quiet, I had this moment of, “Okay, this is really happening.”

After opening night, people kept coming up to me saying how much they loved it, and that was wild. I was proud of the play, of course. I knew I’d put a lot of work into it. But what really hit me was realizing that other people connected with it too. Something I loved and created actually translated to an audience. That meant everything.

Do you aspire to pursue writing, directing, or another creative path professionally? What are your future plans? 

Yes, definitely. I’ve just submitted my university choices, mostly in Ireland, and many of them focus on theatre or creative writing. Before writing Amare, I thought I’d go into performing or directing. But through this process, I discovered how much I love writing. It opened up a whole new part of theatre for me that I hadn’t explored in this way before.

So yes, I absolutely want to keep going. I hope Amare is just the first of many plays. That’s the dream.

How has this experience shaped your perspective on storytelling and the arts? 

Throwing myself into something this big, just saying, “I’m going to do it and see what happens”, taught me that sometimes, you really can fake it till you make it, especially when it comes to confidence.

The scariest part was sharing my writing. I remember during the first workshop, when we handed out a bit of the script, I was sweating. But once the actors started reading it, I realized it was okay. And from there, I got more comfortable. I learned that your first draft doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to exist. You can edit later, but nothing happens until you take that first step and put yourself out there.

That’s the biggest thing I’ve taken from this: the courage to start. Whether it’s a monologue or a full play, you can’t improve something that doesn’t exist. So just begin.

Would you like to add anything?

Just a huge thank you to Tony and the entire cast. They’ve been absolutely wonderful.