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Kendra Baker photos
Togas were in abundance and the auditorium at Middlebrook School was packed with parents, students and staff who came to watch the sixth grade yellow team perform plays from ancient times during its annual Greco-Roman Festival on Thursday, May 21.
Social studies teacher Luisa Nanos said the festival — which has taken place for close to 20 years — is “a team-wide effort that often becomes students’ favorite and most memorable project of their sixth grade year.”
After auditioning, each yellow team sixth grader was given a role in one of the following five plays:
- Agamemnon.
- The Furies.
- Pandora’s Box.
- Romulus and Remus.
- Julius Caesar.
“Each team teacher directs a play and rehearses with their cast during a period each school day for approximately three weeks, culminating with the live performance on the Middlebrook stage,” said Nanos.
The final performance was student-run, both on stage — acting and narrating, and behind-the-scenes — working the lights, sound and curtain.
In addition to the performances, the Greco-Roman Festival included a reception of Greek and Roman appetizers and desserts, provided by parent volunteers.
The reception was organized by team mothers Kim Hall and Alexis Boccanfuso, who the PTA assigned to help coordinate the reception’s set-up, food and clean-up.
Nanos said the Greco-Roman Festival “provides every student with an opportunity to practice their public speaking skills, to learn about ancient literature, to have a very fun experience as the school year winds down, and to honor ancient Greece, the birthplace of theater.”
Here are some video clips from the sixth graders' production of Pandora's Box, featuring Lilly Byrnes as Pandora and Nate Newcomer as Epimetheus.
https://youtu.be/xzsFTh63S2U
https://youtu.be/XPlsqkAUEe4