In 1995, a group of teenagers from the Lycée Hubert Clément in Esch-sur-Alzette decided to stage a play written by one of their classmates. They had no funding, no theatre, and no grand plan, just the desire to make something of their own. Three decades later, Independent Little Lies (ILL) has become one of Luxembourg’s most vital performing arts collectives, shaping not only its members’ lives but the very fabric of the country’s theatre scene.

“It wasn’t planned to last,” recalls filmmaker Anne Schiltz, a collective member who recently directed a documentary on the collective for its 30th anniversary. “They just wanted to do this play and they really liked working together, and they did another play the year after.”

That movement, born of youthful defiance and sustained by artistic conviction, still thrives today. From punk beginnings in Esch’s industrial heart to participatory theatre projects that bridge generations and cultures, ILL continues to embody the spirit of independence that gave it its name.

A Name, a Song, a Manifesto

“There’s a song by Fleetwood Mac called ‘Little Lies’,” Schiltz says, smiling. “One of the founders, Dirk Gindt, was listening to it all the time back then. The word ‘independent’ was key, they wanted to make something of their own.”

And they did. In the mid-1990s, Luxembourg’s cultural infrastructure was still in its infancy. 1995 marked the country’s first turn as European Capital of Culture, but at that time much of the art scene was imported. ILL, alongside collectives like Maskénada, represented a new generation determined to create in Luxembourg, not just consume what came from abroad.

The early years were scrappy, infused with punk energy. Rehearsals took place in squatted spaces and at Kulturfabrik, the legendary arts centre that grew from youth activism to save a disused slaughterhouse. “They made theatre with barely any money,” says actress and director Elsa Rauchs, a member for over a decade. “And they chose political themes for their plays, to make a statement and to resist to where Luxembourg was going as a country.”

Collective as Organism

Today, Independent Little Lies is an established ASBL (nonprofit association) with conventions signed with the Ministry of Culture and the city of Esch, providing greater stability for its many projects. But its structure remains defiantly collective.

“You can join only after you’ve participated in a project,” explains Rauchs. “Each year, members propose projects, and together we decide what becomes part of the season.”

ILL’s ecosystem is made up of around 15 to 17 members, actors, filmmakers, writers, musicians, who collaborate across disciplines. The collective produces major theatre works, supports research and experimental “micro projects,” and leads Biergerbühn, its participatory theatre programme that blends professional and non-professional performers be they children, seniors or refugees.

“It’s about building bridges,” Rauchs says. “People who don’t usually have access to the stage can share the space with professionals.”

The Biergerbühn project, launched seven years ago, has grown into a cornerstone of ILL’s mission. Workshops for children and adults culminate every few years in large-scale productions like Doheem: Fragments d’intimité and The Stranger Song, performed by casts ranging from ages five to sixty-two. The latter was performed by locals and Syrian refugees from a foyer in Mondercange. To overcome the language barrier, the collective brought in a Lebanese actor. “We developed exercises where language is secondary,” Rauchs explains. “And then, in the end, the play itself has this raw, very personal kind of aesthetic.”

From Punk to Participation

If the early ILL was about rebellion against institutional theatre, today’s ILL resists something else: artistic isolation. In an era when many creators navigate freelance precarity, the collective provides both creative and emotional grounding.

“The fact that we identify so strongly as a collective is already kind of a statement against individualistic ways of living,” Rauchs admits. She celebrates the way each time new members join, they bring a new dynamic that draws her in. “This collective of people is like an organism that grows and lives,” she says.

For Schiltz, who joined in 2020 during a pandemic-era production of Amadeus, the sense of belonging was immediate. “We rehearsed just before everything closed down,” she recalls. “But we stayed in touch.”

The punk impulse, to do it yourself, together, endures. “We might not be as punk in style,” says Rauchs, but the state of mind is still there. “It’s hard to say what political theatre is nowadays. But I think who you make it with is already a question.”

Thirty Years of Little Lies

In November, ILL marked its 30th anniversary with a birthday celebration and the premiere of Schiltz’s documentary. Two founding members, Marc Baum and Claire Thill, are still involved, proof of the group’s remarkable continuity amid constant renewal.

Check out the ILL agenda to find their next shows and don’t miss The Stranger Song when it comes to the Grand Théâtre in Luxembourg City on 31 January and 1 February! 

From a teenage play in Esch to a cornerstone of Luxembourg’s cultural identity, Independent Little Lies remains true to its name: fiercely independent, artistically honest, and quietly revolutionary.

As the lights rise on their next act, one thing is clear, in a world of fleeting trends and fragile institutions, the enduring power of a collective might just be the truest story theatre can tell.