15 March 2025
Posted by Amelia
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 :)
Archive
Junior & Young Writers: Week 12 [Wild Words] - Stuff & Things
Junior & Young Writers: Week 11 [Wild Words] - World Building 2
Junior & Young Writers: Week 10 [Wild Words] - World Building
Junior & Young Writers: Week 9 [Wild Words] - Mystery & Choose Your Own Adventure
Junior & Young Writers: Week 8 [Wild Words] - Spooky Sequels & Potion Poems
Junior & Young Writers – Week 10 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Final Showcase
Junior & Young Writers – Week 9 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Editing & Performance Tips
Junior & Young Writers – Week 8 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Cuteness
Time goes on by Tavinder Kaur New
Junior & Young Writers – Week 7 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Natural Solutions
Junior & Young Writers – Week 6 (Writers’ Inspiration) – The Language of Fruit and Veg
Junior & Young Writers – Week 5 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Adventures In Space
Tinklebobs and Bedraggled Angles
Junior & Young Writers – Week 4 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Our Environment
Fortune Tellers & Future Letters
Junior & Young Writers – Week 3 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Home
Young Writers - Week 10 (The Art of Writing) – Final Week Showcase
Junior Writers - Week 10 (The Art of Writing) – Final Week Showcase
Young Writers – Week 9 (The Art of Writing) – Choose Your Own Adventure
Junior Writers – Week 9 (The Art of Writing) – Choose Your Own Adventure
Young Writers – Week 8 (The Art of Writing) – Sequel Stories
Junior Writers – Week 8 (The Art of Writing) – Sequel Stories
Young Writers – Week 7 (The Art of Writing) – Picture Prompts
Junior Writers – Week 7 (The Art of Writing) – Picture Prompts
Young Writers - Week 6 (The Art of Writing) - Script-writing & Dialogue
Junior Writers - Week 6 (The Art of Writing) - Script-writing & Dialogue
Junior Writers – Week 5 (The Art of Writing) – Poetry
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Young Writers - week 2 - 'fractured fairy tales'
Junior Writers - week 2 - 'fractured fairy tales'
Young Writers - week 1 - 'from deep inside a forest'
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