Our themes are in transition--as is permanently the case, really, if you're thoughtful about it. We did 'Gilgamesh' in part because it echoed the transition between Farm-to-Table and Ancient Civilizations, given that the Neolithic Revolution--the advent of farming--made civilization possible in the first place.
Now, we're moving on from Ancient Civilizations to Global Citizenship. Amongst our group of students, the oldest and, in a way, most visible in the school, we are pursuing citizenship through service projects. Our visibility means it's also more than worthwhile to talk about the nature of leadership.
With that in mind, we're reading Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar', which engages some of the same themes as 'Gilgamesh', only without all the laughs. The kids have noted that Caesar himself hardly even appears in the first two acts, really only long enough to hear, and ignore, the soothsayer declaring 'Beware the Ides of March!'
Like 'Gilgamesh', this play is about a man who gets too big for his own good. The line we've spent the most time chewing on so far is The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power.
We'll put a little bit of the play on its feet in February or March, since it is, after all, a play.
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