Rudolf Steiner characterised the Class 10 experience as one of ‘gravity’, which can be a case of coming down to earth with a bump! Young people around the Class 10 age group often find themselves beginning to ‘land’ in the world with greater seriousness. They often have the impulses to explore and understand the darker sides of life, and to view the world more critically; they also need outlets for the expression of these forces. Performing a Greek tragedy gives an opportunity for this, both for them and, hopefully, for the witnessing audience. However, to perform tragedy needs one to learn a certain level of maturity, which is part of the new level of challenge this year’s big theatrical task provides.
The themes of the ancient Greek tragedies often shine an inner lens on characters from the Trojan war, that great mythic cycle of bitter vengeance. Electra is typical and in fact versions of her story were presented by all three of the Greek tragedians. This version is based on Sophocles’ account, but also draws on elements of Euripides’ telling. It’s a tale of a young woman seeking her royal revenge on her mother, and the return of her avenging brother Orestes. We see her challenges with her murderous mother, queen Clytemnestra, and the tragic aftermath evokes many emotions we can relate to, but they are not easy, and violence (shown symbolically) is part of the tale. As usual, we only recommend these performances for children aged 11 and older, though younger ones may attend at parental discretion. Entrance is by donation, which the class is raising for the Christine Revell Children’s Home in Athlone.
In other aspects of their Waldorf curriculum, the Class 10s revisit ancient history for the first time since Primary School, and will engage with the human experience of speech, language and story in a main lesson called simply (but profoundly!) “The Word”. The performance of an ancient tragedy is thus a complement to this exploration of origins and communication, for the body of Greek theatre is the fullest experience we have of the original emergence of theatre, out of ritual and into art. Yet the real importance of it for this age group is in finding and expressing the human experience which we share with the ancients: the passions, the intense emotions, relationships and spiritual dynamics, the questioning of life and love.
The overarching question we would see this age group asking is “how?” Perhaps variations of this are general questions of “how did the world get like this?” – looking at the fundamentals of human interactions seen in drama might help answer that; and more specific and technical questions like “how is a successful theatre show created?” This year we expect the students to hold even more of the production aspects of a play than they needed to in Class 9, including creating the musical accompaniment for the story. The experience on stage is a starker one than in previous years: the stage set and costumes are minimal, for it is the student’s personal expression of the character and their language that is the real focus, and provides for (hopefully!) a new intensity of experience more accessible to this age, more quickly. We have much less rehearsal time than for the Shakespeare in Class 9, and students must manage their play commitments with tasks for other subjects.
Performances last about an hour and seats will be available at the door for the three performances, which are on Wednesday November 5th at 6pm and 8pm, and Thursday 6th at 7pm. Please come and support the hard work of the Class 10s and contribute to a good cause!
