Classics and Drama put on our annual outdoor event in the gorgeous grounds of Bentley Wood with the focus this year on Roman Mythology.
Roman mythology developed from the stories that the ancient Greeks created. These stories tried to explain situations and circumstances that they did not understand, such as the origins of the world, or why natural disasters occurred.
The stories the Romans continued to tell, spread as far as their empire did; from Briton, to Northern Africa and into modern day Turkey. It is from these stories that literature continued to evolve. Writers that we cannot imagine as never existing have been inspired by stories that were told over 2 thousand years ago; writers such as Shakespeare, John Keats, Mary Shelley, Rick Riordan, JK Rowling, Tolkien and Margaret Atwood to name but a few.
Mythology back then was not definitive and just as modern writers put their own ideas and spins on well-known ancient mythology, so did the Romans themselves.
Ovid was a Roman poet who gave voices to women in Greek myth who were largely forgotten, or not focused on by the Greeks. Virgil wove in a tragic tale of love between the Roman hero Aeneas and the African Queen Dido into his Roman epic, the Aeneid.
Mythological tales are ever changing, they have no boundaries and because of this they are everlasting. They act as mirrors that reflect the society they are being told in and the commentaries that our year 12 Classical Civilisation students gave after each performance hopefully provided much food for thought for the audience.
This year’s performance was started off by a surprise juggling act from our very own Mr Farquhar! He wowed our audience with a special performance that ended with fire and truly warmed the audience up!
The cast were largely made up of students from lower down in the school and they put on three incredible performances of Pyramus and Thisbe, Pandora’s Jar in Latin, and Theseus and the Minotaur.
Once again this performance could not have happened without the fantastic Mr Rankin, Head of Drama. His vision, choice of music and faith in our cast made him an integral part of this event. A special thank you to Miss Illingworth, Ms Chaggar, Ms Karsan and our site team for helping out on the night with organising refreshments and setting up!
See you all again next summer term!
Miss A Hussain
