As part of their studies of Ancient Greek theatre, 5th Form have spent the last few weeks rehearsing selected scenes from Aristophanes’ The Wasps. They couldn’t wait to finally perform these pieces for the audience of parents and boarders on Tuesday evening, and it was worth the wait!
Aristophanes, known as the father of comedy, has been the centre of the 5th Form’s study of the Ancient Greek theatre this term. He wrote 40 comedy plays, 11 of which survive today, and which reflect the ever-changing nature of politics and culture in Athens during the 5th century BCE. The Wasps was produced for the Lenaia festival during a break in the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta, and the play is used as a vehicle with which to criticise one of the leading politicians of the time, Cleon. So central to the play is Cleon that Aristophanes even named his two main characters after him (Philocleon – lover of Cleon’s ideas – and Misocleon – hater of Cleon’s ideas)! Needless to say, the original Greek play does include some rather crude language and ideas, so the scenes we witnessed on Tuesday were adapted to make them more suitable for prep school boys!
