The “Performing the classics” project has become a tradition at ILS, with each 8th-grade section going on stage to perform works by great Russian writers.
This year, students from section 8M2 presented an excerpt from Aleksandr Pushkin’s “The captain’s daughter”, while their classmates from section 8M3 performed Gogol’s comedy “The government inspector”.
“Stage performance is quite different from other types of work we do with literary creations,” explains Russian Language and Literature teacher Galina Korotkonozhkina. “The students go deep into their roles, expressing the specific intonations and personality of each character. When teaching a work of literature, I try to show my students not only its ideas and meaning but also its place in the literary heritage.”
Clearly, the 8th graders’ performances grabbed the audience’s attention immediately with their carefully crafted movements, emotions and overall command of the stage.
“My role was the government inspector,” says Robert Skalatsky of section 8M2. “I tried not only to learn the words perfectly, but also to capture my character’s emotions well enough for the audience to feel their way into the production.”
“I played Masha in The captain’s daughter,” reports Yulia Tarunova of section 8M3. “Of the main roles it is the only one for a woman, and I think I managed to show the audience what sort of person she is.”
So pleased was the audience with the students’ performances that even after the curtain closed they were eager for more!
“Stage performance of the works they read is a very effective way for children to study literature,” says ILS Principal Olga Shevchenko. “Acting out the roles and plots of famous works teaches students how to cooperate and improvise, and also helps develop their organizational skills.”
