The national Mary-Kay Gamel Outreach Prize, awarded by the Society for Classical Studies, has been presented to St. Olaf Professor of Classics and Department Chair Anne Groton in recognition of her student productions of ancient Greek and Latin plays.
The Society for Classical Studies gives the award annually to an individual whose outstanding program makes classical antiquity accessible to the general public. Groton has been directing ancient plays –– primarily comedies by Plautus and Menander –– and touring with them to other schools since 1982. This semester, she is directing her 24th production.
“Being recognized for our outreach work is a big honor for me and for the hundreds of St. Olaf students who have been involved in our plays over the past four decades. Our aim in taking the show on the road is to spread the joy of Latin and Greek around,” Groton says. “The late Mary-Kay Gamel, for whom the award is named, taught at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Like me, she did productions of ancient plays and was interested in making Classics more widely known in the population. She was a lovely person.”
Currently, Groton and her cast of 17 students are preparing to go on a two-day tour with Plautus’ Vidularia (“The Lost Bag”). This production has been particularly challenging, as the play is fragmentary — only 90 of the original 900 Latin lines have survived. Groton and her students are using their imaginations to reconstruct the missing portions.
The play follows a group of pirates stranded in a new town after their ship is destroyed and their luggage is spread upon the beach. The pirates must bond with the townsfolk and each other throughout the play, as well as discover new characters, such as the Bagsmith or Manuscript. Just 45 minutes long, the production will tour eight different schools and colleges between March 4 and 5. The show will complete its circuit with two performances at St. Olaf College on March 6 and 7 at 7:30 p.m. The show will be performed in Christiansen Hall of Music. There are no tickets required, as all of Groton’s shows are free and open to the public.
Groton’s productions are unique for several reasons. They are extracurricular activities, not connected with any course. The cast members work together with Groton to prepare the script, which mixes bits of the original Greek/Latin with English. Groton also composes five or six songs for each play. All the shows have a happy ending, and focus on themes such as love and friendship.
Associate Professor of Classics Kyle Helms, who nominated Groton for the award, describes her productions as “unlike anything else. They’re something that could happen only at St. Olaf. It’s really special.”
The actors in Groton’s productions are all students who have studied or are currently studying Greek or Latin. The backdrops, costumes, and props have been gathered over the years or have been made by the students. To appeal to the children in the audience, the shows’ characters are often portrayed as animals, such as marsupials, crabs, or cows. The humor in the plays is kept gentle, making the performances enjoyable and accessible for audiences of all ages, ranging from the young to the young at heart.
