This week’s theme:
Mysterious Places – Ancient Greece
Fact of the day:
Most ancient Greek cities had a theatre – some big enough to hold 15,000 people!
Resources list:
Paper or card, scissors, elastic or stick; colouring pens and paper.
Activity 1:
Thousands of people packed the hillside arena of ancient Athens to watch plays by famous writers like Sophocles, Euripides and Aeschylus. Actors wore masks which showed the audience whether their character was happy or sad. Some of the masks had two sides, so the actor could turn them around to change the mood for each scene. Tragic masks carried pained expressions, while comic masks were smiling.
Make yourself a comedy and tragedy mask, or a double sided cardboard mask on a stick to flip it over.
Activity 2:
Wearing your mask, act out (or come up with actions for) the myth of Demeter and Triptolemus.
Activity 3:
Recently, because people can’t visit theatres at the moment a theatre was filled with houseplants to create an audience!! Create your own fun, alternative audience to perform your Greek myth to!
Activity 4:
In this animation all about Greek Theatre you can see people cheering and stamping their feet if they thought the act was good, or throwing rotten vegetables if they thought otherwise. Write a list of things that you watch that you’d cheer and stamp your feet for (and then do it!), and list of things you’d throw vegetables at (and then draw the veg!) Share your decorated list with us on our Facebook, Instagram or Twitter or send it to melanie@purplepatcharts.org and we’ll put it online for you!
Activity 5:
Athens was the place to go for plays, the city put on a drama festival called the Dionysia in honour of the god Dionysus. He was the god of the theatre and wine. The festival was a bit like a competition. Judges gave prizes for their favourite tragedy and comedy performances. Make a medal, award, or rosette to award to your favourite things. (e.g. Best film, best song, best pet, best TV show, etc).