Discover Ancient Greece in the Open-Air!

The study of Ancient Greece at any key stage and from any subject on the curriculum, explores myth, ritual, religion, dance, music, architecture and literature. In Ancient Greece, those important elements of life were played out on stage in elaborate and dramatic productions.

So why not bring Ancient Greece to your school and let's play out those important parts of the students' study in our own, self-built amphi-theatre... in your school's outdoor space!

In our workshops we spend the morning finding the voices of the different gods or key characters and exploring who they were. Students take part in fun open-air theatre activities to explore those roles and use their voice to bring each character to life. These are energetic and engaging drama activities which promote creativity, self expression and teach students to be confident public speakers. The use of voice is very different in the open air!

- At KS2. the students then devise scenes based on the gods using a wonderful story written by Drama in the Woods which links the gods and their stories within Ancient Greece.

- At KS3, they will focus on the myths key to their study at this level and devise scenes which explore those chosen myths.

- At KS4/5 the students will take extracts of scripts from Greek Theatre, such as 'Antigone' or 'Trojan Women' and they will be encouraged to devise a scene to be played out for an audience. They can experiment with style and genre and this can be linked to a set practitioner if the school wishes.

After lunch, we will then work on our design element to the day, where students will have the opportunity to build an amphi-theatre in your outdoor space, as well as design costumes and props, as much as possible, sourced from the nature around them. The design and build of our amphi-theatre is fun and teaches the students about the architectural design, important to the overall spectacle. Drama in the Woods provide the materials for this task.

Our final part to the day brings all the skills learned throughout the workshop together. The students will rehearse and perform our key scenes in our amphi-theatre with costumes and props. This is a fun and informal performance, but we always encourage schools to invite an audience to join us. This might be staff from the school or another class perhaps.

KS2 ACTIVITIES INCLUDE:
- Fun drama activities that explore open-air drama techniques to promote creativity, self-expression and confident public speaking
- Exploration of the Greek Gods and their fascinating myths
- Devising theatre by bringing the characters and narratives to life
- Exploring design elements to truly understand Ancient Greek culture
- Learning how wonderful it feels to perform- especially in the open-air!

KS3 ACTIVITIES INCLUDE:
- Fun drama activities that explore open-air drama techniques to promote creativity, self-expression, confident public speaking and group dynamics
- Exploration of the Greek myths and exploring these through specific drama technique and storytelling
- Devising Greek Theatre and considering staging for an open-air performance
- Designing, building and performing in an amphi-theatre!

KS4/5 ACTIVITIES INCLUDE:
- Fun drama activities that explore open-air drama techniques to promote creativity, self-expression, confident public speaking, chorus and ensemble work
- Exploration of key scenes from Greek plays with a focus on language, genre and style
- Devising work to facilitate use of chorus and implement techniques used in Greek Theatre
- Design elements and production values explored through set design and build
- All skills drawn upon to end with a performance in a amphi-theatre style set

Small groups (10-15 students)
Whole classes (25-35 students)
Whole year groups (50-250 students)

Our team are experienced in working with children with a range of disabilities and we continue to adopt new and innovative approaches to supporting young people with a range of needs.

- Although we endeavour to work outdoors in every workshop, sometimes our great British weather can get the better of us. All our workshops are designed to work indoors as well as outdoors. However, we are also used to working in all kinds of weather (we have performed in snow before) and we try to encourage our participants to come prepared and embrace the elements. However, we always let the school decide if they would like their students to work inside if the weather takes a turn for the worse.

- Our workshops run March to October.

- Our open-air workshops can be delivered in a playground, a field, a local park or green space, a copse or in school woodland if you are lucky enough to have it.

- Drama in the Woods will encourage students to source products from the natural environment where possible. Otherwise, we will bring the nature to the students with our own resources.