An intense weekend for students and teachers of the “Pietro Giannone” High School in Caserta, protagonists, with the show “After Juliet” and the short film “Antigone”, of two important festivals dedicated to the world of school.
After Juliet
“After Juliet” – adapted from the homonymous drama by Scottish Sharman Macdonald – took home the prestigious critics’ award at the twenty-fifth edition of “Pulcinellamente”, a national school theatre festival, whose awards ceremony took place yesterday morning at the Teatro Lendi. The show, a hypothetical sequel to Shakespeare’s tragedy “Romeo and Juliet” curated by professors Grazia Fortunata Falco and Daniela Borrelli together with Ilaria Delli Paoli, the soul of Teatro Civico 14, as part of the activities of the contemporary drama laboratory at the high school, enchanted the audience of very young people present in the room with an innovative style and engaging choreography.
Antigone
The short film “Antigone” – made by the students of the high school with the scientific direction of Gianrolando Scaringi as part of the National Image Education Plan for Schools promoted by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education and Merit – was presented, in selection, both in the cinema section of Pulcinellamente and at the fifth edition of the Balóss Milan Junior Film Festival in the setting of the Cineteca Milano Mic, hosted in the halls of the Civic School of Cinema “Luchino Visconti” and the Lombardy Branch of the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. The short film reinterprets in a contemporary key the homonymous tragedy by Sophocles from the fifth century BC according to a crime-gangster style that underlines the important values of justice and redemption of the female role.
Teamwork and the desire to enhance the talents of the students were fundamental for both projects, as underlined by the school principal Marina Campanile.
“Both in the theatre and in the making of the short - he has declared - different souls of our high school have had the opportunity to compare and grow together, in a path of commitment and responsibility, which has been important because it has allowed girls and boys of different ages and coming from both the classical high school sections, the classical high school of communication, and also the scientific high school, to work in teams bringing out sensitivity, emotions, abilities, which in the traditional school path perhaps would have remained under the radar. The awards are certainly a notable encouragement for the girls and boys who have tried their hand both as actresses and actors, but also as dancers as well as musicians and sound and lighting technicians both live and in front of the camera, even if the highest pedagogical value of these projects lies in the mutual trust that is acquired during the meetings and in the possibility of teaming up with the reference teachers and experts in the sector, thus acquiring new skills in a climate of great serenity and availability".
It was very interesting to see how the high school students worked together to make these works. But there were also some problems, such as coordination and clarity in roles. I hope they improve in the future.
I agree with Marino, it is nice to see young people engaging in creative projects, but there should be more attention to detail and the quality of the final product. Collaboration is important but should not be overlooked.