The Ancient Art of Storytelling: Grade 3's Egyptian Play

One of the highlights of the year is always the Grade 3 Egyptian Play, a joyous performance of acting, song, and dance which expresses the passion that comes with learning about the ancient world and the many complex figures which are involved in the mythology. This is always an exciting time of the year for the Shore community, and families are welcomed to campus to join in the viewing of the performance, the ensuing celebrations afterwards, and of course, the annual Egyptian cheer.

This year’s play was focused around famous director Steven Spielberg looking for inspiration, and was set in a dream he had where multiple ancient Egyptian rulers appear to him, trying to convince him to tell their stories as part of his next big movie. “Excuse me, well I just so happen to be the first Pharaoh in all of Egypt,” says Clarabelle C., playing Menes. “I united upper and lower Egypt into the powerful civilization it turned out to be,” continues Clarabelle. “My name is Ramses, but you can call me The Great!” jokes Libby S. as she gives background on the famous leader. Each of the rulers take turns sharing their stories, acting them out in performance and song, and trying to get Spielberg to choose their life as the basis for his next film. Hilarity ensues as an impressive showcase of ancient Egyptian literature and mythology mixes artfully with modern humor, song, and dance, with each musical number referencing the ancient Egyptian performing it, with a prime example being an energetic rendition of Billy Joel’s Only The Good Die Young by Shao-Wen C. and Sophie A., who play King Tutankhamen. “Really? You don’t recognize me? Queen of the Nile? Famous for my political conquests and romance with Julius Caesar?” says an indignant Cleopatra, played by Gwenyth P. Finally, after a spirited performance of the K-Pop Demon Hunters’ Golden by Queen Nefertiti, renowned for her glamor and played humorously and confidently by Teeny F., Spielberg’s dream comes to a close, and the performance finishes with a rousing edition of the annual Grade 3 Egyptian cheer to end the show on a high note, and audience participation is strongly encouraged!

It was an engaging performance, well written by Grade 3 Teacher Anne Babcock, and well executed by Shore’s Grade 3 students. The detail and high level of production that goes into the Egyptian Play is another example of Shore’s dedicated faculty going above and beyond the typical classroom coursework to produce an exceptional project for our students. One additional benefit of this project for Shore students is long-lasting understanding of subject material. Hours of class time is spent acting out stories of Ancient Egyptian mythology, and the repetition reinforces students’ knowledge of the subject and contributes to the understanding of the various themes which are present in the literature of the time. It was another theatrical masterclass from Shore’s Grade 3 team of Anne Babcock, Carole Jackson, and Weller Henderson, and we can’t wait for next year! Let’s have another Egyptian cheer!