46 students from 8 schools in Merseyside/Manchester and 4 staff members travelled from Liverpool to Cambridge on 22 October to see a production of the Cambridge Greek plays.
Students were mainly in Year 12 and 13 but there were a couple in Year 10 and 11. Half the students learn Greek on Saturdays through the Liverpool Greek Academy (a project supported by Classics for All) and the remaining students were either students applying to university to read Classics (mainly from schools not offering the subject, these students are usually members of the local CA branch or known through work with Aspire Liverpool, a local Oxbridge charity) or from two local state schools, Liverpool College (A level Classical Civilisation) or Liverpool Bluecoat School (A-level Latin).
We also visited Fitzwilliam College and had a brief tour from Dr Sara Owen and had a pre theatre lecture at the Faculty of Classics from Dr Rosanna Omitowoju where we joined a group of 20 students who study Greek through Classics for All’s Cambridge Network.
Despite the long trip (8 hours!) all the students really enjoyed the visit and especially the plays (The Persians and The Cyclops). The opportunity for students to hear Greek spoken and to see plays performed made an enormous impact.
See feedback below from students:
“I enjoyed both the talk and the plays, and I found being able to actually watch the plays being performed much more valuable than simply reading them.”
“I had such an amazing time, the plays were fascinating and I 100% want to go and see Cambridge’s Greek plays again. It was great to see Fitzwilliam College and I loved the pre-show talk and I found it very useful.”
“It was brilliant, timing of the whole day meant we got a taste of everything Cambridge had to offer and the plays where really good.”
It was also very useful for students from so many different schools and colleges to spend the day together sharing a love of Classics. Without the additional funding we received we would not have been able to reduce the cost of the day to an affordable amount.
Photo copyright: cambsnews.co.uk
