Great Myth Play

The Lower School literally rolls out the red carpet for student stars of the Great Myth Play. More than 40 years strong, this beloved Bryn Mawr tradition continues to challenge students to learn classic stories and bring them to life in new and creative ways. 

Ask anyone who attended Bryn Mawr through Lower School and chances are, they can remember the Great Myth Play. Often the highlight of the third grade year, the project combines language arts, social studies, library, computer science, music, art and a whole lot of teamwork.

Back in 1979, the project began as the Greek Myth Play, during which students studied classic Greek mythology. The project recently expanded to global mythology, including Egyptian, Norse, Choctaw, Irish, Mesoamerican and Asian folklore (hence, the name change). After reading various stories during library classes, homerooms vote on a myth to bring to the stage and screen. 

This year’s productions were “Isis and the Seven Scorpions,” “Heimdall and Loki” and “Orpheus and Eurydice.” Students write a script and dialogue with Ms. Broadus ‘88 and Ms. Cauthen-Robinson ‘12, often sprinkling in some humor and pop culture references. Next step is usually staging a play in Centennial Hall, but due to Covid restrictions, this year’s third graders needed to share their plays without an audience. The solution? Stop motion videos!

In art class, students created puppet characters and painted background scenery. In computer science, they recorded voice overs for each scene and compiled hundreds of photos for their stop motion video. After several weeks and a lot of hard work, three videos were ready to debut to family and friends. 

Sydney Lennon ‘30 was the voice of Heimdall in “Heimdall and Loki.” While she enjoyed learning how to bring life to her character while recording her lines, her favorite part was working as a group to make the stop animations, which was not without challenges.

“We kept moving the iPad and we had to put it back, we had to keep deleting pictures and try again…but, we did it,” she said. 

On the day of the premiere, families tuned in from home. Students dressed up and walked the red carpet while classmates and teachers cheered for the shining stars of Bryn Mawr’s Great Myth Play.