A hero of myth
Pinetree Community School students conclude Greek Week with rendition of ‘Theseus and the Minotaur’
Sixth grade student Ryan Lacson, 11, playing Theseus in a school play “Theseus and the Minotaur,” is “thrown” into the sea by Evil King Minos at Pinetree Community School on Wednesday.
With crowns, swords, togas and gowns, sixth grade students at Pinetree Community School shared their knowledge of Greek mythology during the school’s annual Greek Play performances Wednesday.
About 30 students from Marina Hubbard’s class and 30 students from Michael Adachi’s class performed their own version of educational Greek plays for the elementary school’s students and parents.
Hubbard’s class performed their rendition of “Theseus and the Minotaur,” a tale that follows the journey of Theseus as he tries to defeat the evil King Minos and the mythical Minotaur.
“We’ve been practicing this play for probably about six weeks now and ‘Theseus and the Minotaur’ is kind of a fun wrap up to all the units in Greece we have been studying in sixth grade,” Hubbard said.
Students were allowed to take the play and make it their own, adding in lines, dances, hand motions and laughter.
“It’s a funny retelling of a common story and they really infuse their personality all over the place,” Hubbard said. “You can see they jumped in and ad-libbed when they forgot their lines and the songs are funny and they’re allowed to laugh to make it come alive for the little kids too.”
Hubbard’s class play followed main characters Bill and Theseus as they work with the Athenians and King Aegeus to defeat the Minotaur, a creature with the head of a bull, sharp teeth and horrible breath.
Other characters like Poseidon, Nereids, Icarus and Daedalus make appearances to help Theseus, sing songs and prove Evil King Minos wrong.
After they complete their Odyssey across the sea, Ariadne—the daughter of Minos—helps Theseus and Bill find their way out of the Minotaur’s labyrinth and stop him from eating humans by offering him junk food like Twinkies and Snickers.
Hubbard said the play allowed both outspoken and shy students to shine outside of the classroom.
“Some of those students who have main parts are also the ones that have a tendency to speak up in class and some of them are not,” she said. “Some of them are shy students that would never guess that they would be so quick to get in front of a microphone and sing in front of half the school.”
The class plays are a tradition for the elementary school, which has shared them with students and parents for more than 20 years.
It is also the final part of the sixth grade students’ Greek Week, which includes a Greek Wax Museum, Greek Olympics, an academic day and a Greek Feast, all before the students’ promotion Thursday.