Project--Make Your Own "Greek Tragedy"

 Your group will write and perform a play according to the structure below. You must choose a
familiar story from history or from fiction to dramatize. Remember that Greek Tragedy uses a "late
point of attack."
 Everyone in the group will be an actor. You may have as many characters as you want, as long as
you never have more of them onstage at one time than you have members in your group.
 The "audience" will serve as chorus.
 You will make all necessary masks for your characters‹we won't worry about masks for the chorus,
but be sure the text tells us who the chorus are supposed to represent.
 You must be sure that the lines for the chorus are presented clearly so that the "audience" will be able
to "perform" them without rehearsal.
 We will go over proper format for scripts.
 You will not be required to memorize your lines.
 You are not required to use props or scenery, but if you want to do so, you will need to make or find
what is necessary.
 At the completion of the project you will hand in your script, and your grade will be based both on
the script and the performance.
 Note: Although of course real Tragedy always ends unhappily, it is not so easy to find familiar
stories in this day and age that don't have happy endings, so you are not required to give your play a
"tragic" ending.
 You must provide copies of all of the chorus's words to hand out to the "audience." You may make
these copies yourself, or you may have me make them. However, if you want me to do it, you
MUST get them to me by the end of school on the day before the performance.

Your play will have the following structure:

Prologue
Characters speak, perhaps directly to the audience. Tell us what the play is going to be about, and what you
think we will learn from it.
Parados
Chorus, in unison, tells us what has happened before the beginning of the action of the play. They should
also tell us who they are. If you want, you can have the chorus speak in verse. (In a real Greek play, the
chorus would "enter" here, but since the "audience" is serving as chorus, we'll just assume that part. But if
you want, you can have them say something about "entering.") It is often unnatural at first for the students
to write in verse but once pushed, they usually become wonderfully creative.
Episode 1
Characters, in masks, of course, act out the beginning of the action of the play. If you want, you can have
the chorus interrupt the action to ask questions or make comments. (If you are going to do this, make sure
you have copies of the whole play, rather than just the chorus parts, to hand out to the "audience.")
Remember that characters in Greek Tragedy tend to talk a lot about decision making and moral choices‹what
should I do? Am I doing the right thing? Etc. Remember that anything violent should take place offstage,
with a character or "messenger" entering to tell us what happened.
Choral Ode 1
Chorus speaks about something connected with the theme of the story, but not necessarily about the story
itself. Or, if you prefer, you may use a popular song or poem here, that you think expresses the mood or
theme at this point in the play. If you use a poem, the "audience" will read it in unison. If you use a popular
song, you may simply play it on the stereo at this point. (In a real Greek Tragedy the chorus would probably
also "dance" at this point. You can't expect the audience to do this, since they won't have rehearsed, but if
you want, you can have the members of your group perform the movements of the chorus while the
"audience" reads or the song plays. This is NOT, however, required.).
Episode 2
Characters act out the next part of the story, again with choral comment if you want.
Choral Ode 2
(See Choral Ode 1)
(If necessary, you may add more Episodes and Odes here.)
Final Episode
Characters act out the end of the story.
Exodus
As or after the characters leave, the chorus tells us what we have learned from the story.

NOTES Project--Make Your Own "Greek Tragedy"

 Your group will write and perform a play according to the structure below. You must choose a
familiar story from history or from fiction to dramatize. Remember that Greek Tragedy uses a "late
point of attack." My students tend to choose either Greek Myths--Pandora is popular, and happens to
work very well--or fairy tales. It is often difficult for them to understand why choosing their favorite
TV sitcom doesn't work. (Friends is not a story.) The "late point of attack" is a stumbling block for
some, but the fact that it is necessary for a project they have already decided will be fun usually gives
them the impetus to make the necessary effort to grasp the concept--even if it doesn't always
translate into a coherent play.
 Everyone in the group will be an actor. You may have as many characters as you want, as long as
you never have more of them onstage at one time than you have members in your group. Unless the
group shows themselves very able to work together, I usually discourage them from creating the sort
of situation--common in later 5th-century plays--in which one character is played by different actors
at different times. But the idea of one ACTOR playing more than one character is easy, and, indeed,
usually indispensible.
 The "audience" will serve as chorus.
 You will make all necessary masks for your characters‹we won't worry about masks for the chorus,
but be sure the text tells us who the chorus are supposed to represent. This is an important point, and
one I sometimes fail to make clear. The chorus in a Greek play is never just a bunch of random
people. They are the elders of Thebes, or the neighbors of Medea, or the people of a particular city,
and thus have a stake of some kind in the story. I try to encourage my students to think hard about
who the chorus should be. (For example, in one "Little Mermaid" play, they were Ariel's mermaid
sisters.)
 You must be sure that the lines for the chorus are presented clearly so that the "audience" will be able
to "perform" them without rehearsal. Stress this, and don't take their word for it without checking up
on them. Middle Schoolers often think they have written clearly what to anyone else (including
other Middle Schoolers) looks like gibberish. I make certain to stay on top of the written component
of my students work, so that they don't get to the end and then find their project doesn't work for a
trivial reason.
 We will go over proper format for scripts. I show them standard Samuel French acting edition
format, but any would do. The point here is to make them pay attention to the format, and learn the
discipline of sticking to a single one.
 You will not be required to memorize your lines. If I were working with older or more advanced
students, I might make them memorize. In any case, I stress that although they will be allowed to
carry their scripts, they must still ACT. They must be familiar enough with their lines not to spend
the whole play with their noses in the scripts.
 You are not required to use props or scenery, but if you want to do so, you will need to make or find
what is necessary. I do this only because I have a lot to cover in my course, and we do a lot of work
with design during my unit on the Italian Renaissance. There is no reason you couldn't make
costumes and sets a part of the project.
 At the completion of the project you will hand in your script, and your grade will be based both on
the script and the performance.
 Note: Although of course real Tragedy always ends unhappily, it is not so easy to find familiar
stories in this day and age that don't have happy endings, so you are not required to give your play a
"tragic" ending. As I mention above, I might drop this provision with more advanced students.
  You must provide copies of all of the chorus's words to hand out to the "audience." You may make
these copies yourself, or you may have me make them. However, if you want me to do it, you
MUST get them to me by the end of school on the day before the performance. Obviously this
requirement is just for my own convenience. With older students I'd probably just require them to
make the copies themselves, but Middle-Schoolers can't drive themselves, and it's not always easy
for them to make copies.

Your play will have the following structure:

Prologue
Characters speak, perhaps directly to the audience. Tell us what the play is going to be about, and what you
think we will learn from it. I have to coach carefully to remind them that they must not just "come right out
and say it," but that the necessary information must be revealed through natural-seeming comments by the
characters. But I am more or less insistent on this point depending on the group's ability to grasp it.
Parados
Chorus, in unison, tells us what has happened before the beginning of the action of the play. They should
also tell us who they are. If you want, you can have the chorus speak in verse. (In a real Greek play, the
chorus would "enter" here, but since the "audience" is serving as chorus, we'll just assume that part. But if
you want, you can have them say something about "entering.") It is often unnatural at first for the students
to write in verse but once pushed, they usually become wonderfully creative. Here again, I encourage them
to "show" rather than tell. (Although, when it comes to playwriting of any kind, I hate that expression,
because of course virtually all of playwriting is in one sense "telling," since it is dialogue.)
Episode 1
Characters, in masks, of course, act out the beginning of the action of the play. If you want, you can have
the chorus interrupt the action to ask questions or make comments. (If you are going to do this, make sure
you have copies of the whole play, rather than just the chorus parts, to hand out to the "audience.")
Remember that characters in Greek Tragedy tend to talk a lot about decision making and moral choices‹what
should I do? Am I doing the right thing? Etc. Remember that anything violent should take place offstage,
with a character or "messenger" entering to tell us what happened.
Choral Ode 1
Chorus speaks about something connected with the theme of the story, but not necessarily about the story
itself. Or, if you prefer, you may use a popular song or poem here, that you think expresses the mood or
theme at this point in the play. If you use a poem, the "audience" will read it in unison. If you use a popular
song, you may simply play it on the stereo at this point. (In a real Greek Tragedy the chorus would probably
also "dance" at this point. You can't expect the audience to do this, since they won't have rehearsed, but if
you want, you can have the members of your group perform the movements of the chorus while the
"audience" reads or the song plays. This is NOT, however, required.) Surprisingly, make less use of the
freedom provided here than I expected the first time I did the project. I was afraid they's seize on the
permission to use a popular song as a way of avoiding writing so much, but although nearly every group
uses one or two, more is rare. This part of the assignment is pretty vague, but that's intentional. It is
necessary for me to stay on top of what the groups are doing, and to coach them when (and only when)
necessary.
Episode 2
Characters act out the next part of the story, again with choral comment if you want.
Choral Ode 2
(See Choral Ode 1)
(If necessary, you may add more Episodes and Odes here.)
Final Episode
Characters act out the end of the story.
Exodus
As or after the characters leave, the chorus tells us what we have learned from the story. Once again, and
more so, I must coach them not to be too explicit. "We hope you have learned. . ." doesn't cut it. But that's
all to the good, in a way, because I have always been a firm believer in the value of rewriting.