IDEAS FOR PRACTICAL WORK:

Work in small groups of 4 or 5. Give each group a short piece of Greek text to present as a Chorus. Use masks if possible. They should experiment with different vocal techniques for dramatic effect: speaking individually, speaking together, echoing each other, speaking on a monotone.

Discuss which techniques worked for different passages and why.

If using masks, how does the body have to work differently to working without masks? More or less physical? Experiment.

Before the introduction of written plays the Greeks had a tradition of Oral Storytelling. Does this affect how stories were told? How?

As a whole group: Pick one person to tell a short story (4 or 5 lines, long enough to be difficult to remember) to their neighbour. It should be whispered. Continue around the group in this style (“Chinese Whispers”). How does the story sound at the end?
How would this be with a story hundreds of verses long over hundreds of years? Discuss.

Using the diagram below, recreate a basic Greek theatre in your classroom. How does it feel speaking from here rather than in the Proscenium Arch style theatre that we are used to today?