Varvakeio Model Junior High School students adopt iconic ancient Greek theatres and introduce Greek students abroad to them

PRESS RELEASE

During the 2020-2021 school year, a year that presented a unique set of challenges due to the shift to online education imposed by the pandemic, the students of the Varvakeio Model Junior High School participated in DIAZOMA’s “Adoption of Ancient Theatres- Students guide students around ancient theatres” educational program, with a different mission this time.

Having been initiated into dramatic poetry, and tragedy in particular, through the study of Euripides’ Helen, the students were asked to undertake a project based on the following concept: to create a file containing digital materials on three iconic ancient theatres, namely the Theatre of Dionysus Eleuthereus, the Theatre at Delphi and the Theatre of the Asklepieion at Epidaurus. The aim was to send this file to Greek students living abroad to help them present the ancient theatres to their classmates and invite them to visit Greece and get to know these theatres, where tragedy and comedy were born, in person.

This creative project was entitled “An ancient theatre in your inbox.”

The students were given online resources to learn about the history of the ancient theatres, both from the Ministry of Culture’s “The ancient theatre in the cycle of time” file (http://ancienttheater.culture.gr/el) and the DIAZOMA Association’s website (https://www.diazoma.gr/theaters/?type=list). They were then asked to put themselves in the shoes of a Greek student abroad and think about how they could attract the interest of their fellow foreign classmates for these ancient theatres.

The students worked mainly in groups and created imaginative digital works using applications they were already familiar with or discovered online.

For the ancient theatre of Dionysus Eleuthereus, the following works were chosen:

a/ Greek- and English-language video on the history and use of the Theatre of Dionysus

 (using “WeVideo” online video editor- created by M. Kontolati and Ch. Kordeli)

 Greek-language video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_z-9KE_KNZE

English-language video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njkE1tDTQlU

b/ Theatre knowledge quiz (created by A. Anagnostou)

 c/ digital guided tour    https://youtu.be/jwxcrb54l_4  (created by I. Avgerinos and Th.Vaggelatos)

d/ digital quiz  https://youtu.be/_wGtsB7bs80  (created by A. Amountzas and N. Vazouras)

e/ dramatization of Act 2 of Euripides’ Helen in the digitally constructed theatre of Dionysus (using «Minecraft» – created by D. Voulkas and D. Zormbakis)

f/ brief theatre guide (created by N. Vourloumi and K. Kourkouli)

g/ PowerPoint presentation of the theatre (created by K. Kourkoulis)

h/ digital puzzle https://www.tinytap.it/activities/g3yqz/play/undefined  (created by N. Laiou)

i/ acrostic (created by K. Kareklas)

For the ancient theatre at Delphi, the digital works were all created in English. The following works were selected:

a/ video: https://video.sch.gr/asset/detail/Z2adAZsYjIEWNsaMOhOfSh4O/ (created by E. Xystri, E. Panagopoulou, R. Papadopoulou, G. Rappou. Soundtrack by Th. Moraitis, M. Papadatos)

b/ digital poster (created by M. Petridis)

c/ PowerPoint presentation of the ancient theatre (created by I. Papaioannou, G. Papakonstantinou, L. Papapanagiotou, K. Pelekasis)

d/ Kahoot game:   https://create.kahoot.it/details/1b3dc2cc-ce27-45c4-8cd1-6959875cf018

(created by M. Petsini, S. Parantonaki, A. Rammou, V. Paraschi)

For the ancient theatre of the Asklepieion at Epidaurus, the digital works were all created in English too. The following works were selected:

a/ video:  https://video.sch.gr/asset/detail/EKLZRKxXFJZbYbaDNQPTKjQj/ (created by G. Siavelis, A. Siouras, D. Syrokakis, E. Tzioras)

b/ PowerPoint presentation of the ancient theatre (created by D. Rimagmos, N. Sassaris, G. Skeparnias, A. Tzikas)

c/ PowerPoint presentation of the ancient theatre (created by M. Simos, P. Sfakianakis, P. Tsoukalas, G. Christodoulou)

d/ Kahoot game  https://create.kahoot.it/share/the-ancient-theatre-of-epidaurus/9cc5ac73-ae71-4b98-bf1c-2f2d2fd765e0   (created by K. Anagnostelou, M. Anagnostelou, D. Christodoulous, I. Tzima)  

e/ Kahoot game https://kahoot.it/challenge/08939831?challenge-id=d255cbeb-59b2-41dc-a16a-871561a06352_1623745082344    (created by S. Stouraitou, A. Philippidi, I. Flessa, M. Psoma-Diakoumakou)

Interestingly, some student groups created videos to also record their work process and the usage of the digital applications they chose, such as Wevideo, Minecraft, TinyTap. Any teachers interested in introducing their students to the use of these applications are welcome to contact Ms. M. Belogianni at [email protected].

Project supervisors:

Mary Belogianni, Dora Triantopoulou (philologists), Vaso Oikonomidou (English language teacher)