15 March 2025

Posted by Amelia

Junior & Young Writers: Week 10 - Greek Theatre - chorus stories

Hi Writers,

We started off with the weekly check-ins. This week, it was to describe your week as a song.

Some were new and original songs, while others were classics, e.g.

Never Gonna Give You Up – Eddie

Cross Country Throwing Up Song – Wilf

Harry Potter in 99 Seconds - Harry

Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso

We then warmed up with a game of “What Are You Doing?” Here's how to play:

Players stand in a circle.

1. Start: The first player (A) starts miming an activity (e.g., eating an apple).

2. The Question: The person to their left (B) asks, “What are you doing?”

3. The Response: A keeps miming and at the same time calls out a different activity (e.g.,

"playing the piano"). They can say anything except what they are actually doing.

4. Mime: B then acts out the action that A named (playing the piano).

5. Continue: A stops their action, and the next person (C)

6. asks B, "What are you doing?".

7. Repeat: B continues acting and names a new activity for C

8. to mime, and so on.

Some exciting things were mimed, like “trimming my beard”, which quickly turned into rather

complicated heists with easy names like “stealing a pen”

After officially warming up, we explored three types of Greek myths:

1. Hero Stories – featuring Atalanta, Heracles’ 12 Labors, and Odysseus’ epic journey.

2. Origins – such as Pandora’s Box and the myth of Persephone and the seasons.

3. Consequences – illustrated by Icarus’ fatal fall and Prometheus’ act of defiance.

A Brief Summary of Greek Storytelling & Drama:

Ancient Greek drama began in the 6th century BC with hymns sung to Dionysus. Over time, singers

formed a chorus, wearing costumes and masks, creating the first performances. Early plays featured a

single actor, the protagonist, supported by the chorus, which played a key role by narrating, setting the

scene, and revealing character thoughts- speaking, singing, and dancing in unison.

Activity – Write & Perform a Greek-Inspired Play

Each group got to choose and decorate a mask to centre their play around!

Here are the plays that were performed after a time of writing in separate groups and deliberating on

what play to create:

The First Group: The Big Fight performed by The Big Fight

Monsters argued, and the protagonist was a unicorn.

Unclear what they were arguing over, but it looked pretty serious and by the end, one of the

protagonists was thrown to the floor!

The reviews came in fast, and most notably, concerns arose over the safety of the actors, but they

enjoyed the play nevertheless.

Second Play: Batman and the Tuna Sandwich

This Tesco went heavy on the 3-for-2 deals, but it couldn’t keep the peace and there was a thumb war

in the sandwich aisle. Batman, the protagonist, wins the thumb war, but alas, they are both allergic to

tuna and die. This play was a comedy!

The reviews were 5 stars all around, but with one caveat- there was “not enough violence”, though the

reviewers noted it was “very beautiful”.

FINAL PLAY: Something

This one followed a king as the protagonist who was using unnatural magic to seek immortality.

However, he got caught using magic and was killed!

The reviews noted that the actors seemed unsure of what was happening at times as the story was

increasingly intricate, but it was well-reviewed despite this.

This hour and a half flew by and was filled to the brim with activities each task and exercise was

greeted with confidence and joy. I am not usually part of this workshop but it was really fun to be

your stand-in assistant, thank you all for being so welcoming.

I can't wait to see what the groups come up with next time - Amelia

Keep reading, keep writing :)

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Junior & Young Writers: Week 10 - Greek Theatre - chorus stories