Slicing through the convict’s shackles, Pip, a young orphan, aids in freeing a captured criminal.
Last Tuesday, September 8th, juniors preformed Charles Dicken’s Great Expectations in front of their peers. Juniors reenacted scenes from the novel, highlighting main character Pip’s adventurous life.
English teacher Mr. Patterson “thought it would be cool to have juniors act scenes out in the classroom” and trying to incentivize them “through a couple bonus points.” Mr. Patterson said “all of his willing junior students would come to his office and auditioned for the play.” Auditions ran August the 28th to September 4th. Mr. Patterson was excited about the play and thought “it will be really cool to see juniors act out the play” while peers would be more engaged with the novel.
Performer Trey Wiederecht felt that the performance went very well. Trey enthusiastically claimed that “John and I really undertook the role of the characters in the novel and while there were some little problems, the performance went great.” Trey admits he “initially felt a little nervous” but was calmed and confident after auditioning to Mr. Patterson. Overall, Trey said that his “timing wasn’t always perfect, but at the end of the day it went smoothly” while also thoroughly “enjoyed his bonus points.”
Juniors Eamon Stack, Jack Ayers, and Clay Walters both enjoyed the performances, claiming it helped them relate to the novel much better. Eamon Stack thought the performance was great and “liked how the performers both captured the character’s persona.” Clay Walters thought that the “performance was very entertaining” and thought the performers did very well.
Not only were Eamon and Clay entertained by the performance, but also they felt they could relate to the novel at a deeper level. Clay gleefully claims that the performance helped him associate with the characters much more along with “feeling engaged with the novel.” Jack Ayers also appreciated the performance, as he felt “it was a great supplement to reading the novel; I could understand parts of the novel that were previously confusing.” In general, the audience enjoyed the play and got a more deep understanding
Overall, the performance went well, as the performance was a fantastic experience and helped students explore the novel at a different angle. While there was some nervousness and some mistakes were made, the performers did a great job of acting. This fall, the juniors will continue reading Charles Dicken’s Great Expectations with a new sense of understanding and a higher level of engagement with the novel.
