Cries of ‘eheu!’ (alas!) and ‘o suspirium meum!’ (oh, my hearthrob!) along with other Latin outbursts of equal drama and emotion could be heard ringing in the School corridors last week as Year 9 rehearsed their entries for the Bristol Festival of Latin Drama.
Inspired by favourite stories from the Cambridge Latin Course, one group chose to re-enact the attempted poisoning (by a rather hapless assassin) of the beleaguered King Cogidubnus; the other to stage the farcical scene in which lovelorn Bulbus persuades his friend to dress up (despite a giveaway beard) as the woman who spurned him in order to take revenge on her insufferable new boyfriend.
Unlike modern languages, Latin is usually learnt and only examined through written translation, which made our brave actors’ enthusiastic performances and superb pronunciation particularly impressive. Both groups also perfectly captured the ludicrous comedy of Roman drama, with its exaggerated stock characters and barely believable plots.
With the plays filmed (with the invaluable help of tech crew) and now submitted to the judging panel, we eagerly await the virtual competition event on Monday. Whatever the outcome, the process of scriptwriting, researching, staging and editing has been a rewarding and highly entertaining experience for all involved.
Ms Mayes, Head of Classics
