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 look at the darkness and violence in relationships between the sexes, and Antigone is no exception. The final part of Sophocles’ great Theban trilogy takes place after the death of Antigone’s father Oedipus, and deals with the young princess’s fated rebellion against the new tyrannical patriarch, king Creon. While the play does not feature violence on stage, we do see its aftermath and it is described in detail, so, as usual, we only recommend these performances for children aged 12 and older, though younger ones may attend at parental discretion. In line with some of these themes and our own placement in today’s Cape Town, entrance is by donation which the class is raising for Rape Crisis Cape Town.
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, 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. They also learn further aspects of stagecraft, including creating and performing with masks, and working quite literally with light and shadow! Choral speaking and moving, too, is a new form of performance challenge this year, with its ancient roots. 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 around an hour and seats will be available at the door for the three performances to members of our community, which are on Wednesday (23rd) at 6pm and 8pm, and Thursday (24th) at 7pm. Entrance is by donation and the class is raising funds for Rape Crisis Cape Town. Please come and support the hard work of the Class 10s and contribute to a good cause!
