Welcome to Acting Out: Mythology & Shakespeare!

We covered quite a bit in our first class together! We kicked off the afternoon with a brief introduction to classical mythology and why it matters. We discussed what it means to be "western" and the spread of Greek myths and culture to Rome and later to countries like France and England. It's our hope to draw the connection between these earliest of stories to the progression of western literature as we know it today - making it not only interesting, but relevant!

We introduced a few main characters through our Gallery of the Gods handout, and without further ado, dove right into our first reading of The Golden Fleece: Jason and the Argonauts Part I. Parts were readily spoken for and we enjoyed Zachary Hamby's delightful and hilarious re-telling of the first part of Jason's quest for the Golden Fleece. We encouraged students to highlight their lines at home and to review their parts using the reading direction given in the script. We will be going back to the script in another couple of weeks and working on diction and expression.

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After our read-through, we formed a discussion circle and asked the students to analyze different aspects of the story. In a timed, five-minute writing exercise, students predicted what they think will happen in Part II (or, if they already know, they wrote a brief summary).

For work-at-home, students should write a personal myth based on their name. Handouts were provided with guidance on what elements should be included in the myths, with additional ideas for those that want to write a more detailed story. Students should come up with a name for their character. If they like, they can use this web-site to change their name to a Greek sounding name!

We also made constellations based on our names -- ask your student to show you the drawings we did at the end of class. Finally, Susan led us in some great exercises that stretched our bodies and our creative muscles. Next week, we will share our myths and jump right into The Golden Fleece: Jason and the Argonauts Part II.

Until then!

Angela and Susan