The Fifth & Sixth Graders of REGINA PACIS ACADEMY present DIRECTOR’S NOTE Working with this group of young actors and actresses has been an amazing experience. I can easily say that The Frogs is one of the most unique shows I have ever directed. I am proud to see what these young people have brought to the stage, taking on the challenge of performing in an ancient play that many people their age or even twice their age will never get the chance to be in. I would like to thank these young people for all their hard work. I would also like to thank the genius writing of Mrs. Kimball, the assistance of Mrs. McCabe, the encouragement of Mrs. Quatela, and the support of the RPA staff and faculty. I appreciate both the time and materials donated by the parents of RPA, the set work of Mr. Piekarski, the sound work done by the McLaughlin Family, and the program work done by Dr. Quatela. Without all your support, this would never have been possible. Now please sit back, laugh, and take a trip with us down to Hades! Madeline Betz Director REGINA PACIS ACADEMY THE FROGS BY ARISTOPHANES A PRODUCTION OF THE STUDENTS OF GRADE 5/6 BASED ON THE TRANSLATION BY Ian Johnston VERY FREELY ADAPTED BY Alexandra Kimball DIRECTED BY Madeline Betz Anna McCabe Kimberly Quatela GRADE 5/6 TEACHER PRINCIPAL MAY 2, 2021 THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER HISTORICAL NOTES Aristophanes was the most popular comic playwright in Athens, writing about forty plays for religious festivals in honor of Dionysus. We’re lucky that eleven of them survive. In fact, his are the only complete comedies from ancient Greece to survive! He began writing his plays at the beginning of the thirty-year Peloponnesian War between Athens (and her allies) and Sparta (and her allies), and wrote the last one after Athens was defeated. During this time Athens was becoming ever more ruthless in pursuit of victory so you might think there wasn’t much to be funny about. But Aristophanes managed it! In his plays, Aristophanes mocked pretty much everyone: corrupt leaders, philosophers with their heads in the cloud like his friend Socrates, sleazy citizens on the make, war- mongers, bad playwrights—and even good playwrights he admired, like Euripides and Aeschylus. He made fun of himself too, for being bald and wanting to win the prize at the festival! But above all he chided the citizens of Athens for forgetting the values that had led them to join together more nobly with other city-states to fight against the Persians. He hopes the audience in the theatre—that is, the citizens in their democracy—will laugh and learn. The Frogs won first prize at the Dionysia in 405 BC, the next-to-last year of the Peloponnesian War. Athens has lost her fleet at the Battle of Aegospotami and Sparta is blockading the port of Athens, slowly starving the city. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Dionysus decides to descend to the Underworld. Maybe someone there can help save Athens . DRAMATIS PERSONAE (in order of appearance) XANTHIAS, a slave ………………………Gabriel Bishop DIONYSUS, the god of partying, appearing in human form as a fat middle-aged man. ...Elizabeth Piekarski HERCULES, the legendary hero………Owen Berchelmann CORPSE, a dead man being carried off to Hades...Anna Melton CHARON, a ferryman transporting the dead to Hades …………………………………Ella Parker CHORUS OF FROGS ……………...Finnean Fredrickson Owen Berchelmann Chloe Boursiquot Wesley Woodard CHORUS OF INITIATES, worshippers of the gods of the underworld ……………...Michael Duchon Anna Melton Nora Ismael-Bakkali Gemma Marchetti LEADER, of the Chorus of Initiates ………...Karla Martinez AEACUS, a gatekeeper in Hades ………..Elliot McLaughlin WOMAN SERVANT, of Persephone, queen of Hades…………………………… ..Karla Martinez PANDOKEUTRIA, a landlady in Hades ….Gemma Marchetti PLATHANE, another hostess in Hades…...Chloe Boursiquot THREE SERVANTS OF AEACUS …………...Anna Melton Karla Martinez Nora Ismael-Bakkali SERVANT, of Pluto, king of Hades……… .Wesley Woodard EURIPIDES, the recently dead playwright of Athens …………………………...James Amorella AESCHYLUS, the less recently dead playwright of Athens.……………………… .Joachim Szewczuk PLUTO, king of the Underworld……..Finnean Fredrickson VARIOUS ATTENDANTS …………….. Wesley Woodard Owen Berchelmann Chloe Boursiquot SYNOPSIS SCENE 1: On a street leading to Hades, we meet Dionysus, the god of wine and partying, and his trusty slave (or is he?) Xanthias who’s in charge of the luggage. For some strange reason, Dionysus isn’t wearing his usual garb of leopard skins and grapevines. Instead he’s dressed up like a bargain-basement Hercules, complete with mangy lion skin, goofy boots, and a very non-lethal club. They’re on their way to visit . SCENE 2: Hercules! When Hercules finally stops laughing at his brother’s ridiculous attire, Dionysus tells him his plan: he really wants to meet the rule-breaking playwright Euripides, now dead and living in Hades. Ever since Hercules captured the three-headed dog Cerberus, he’s the expert on getting in—and out—of Hades. SCENE 3: The route to Hades is long, and Xanthias is fed up with carrying all the luggage. He hopes to get some help from a passing corpse. SCENE 4: Alas, Xanthias gets no help from the corpse, and, to make matters worse, Charon, the ferryman to the Underworld, makes Xanthias take the long way around. Charon tries to teach Dionysus how to row a boat to the music of the frogs—but everyone’s a critic, and he and the frogs get into an argument. SCENE 5: Xanthias and Dionysus are reunited on the far bank of the River Styx. Will they survive any encounters with horrid creatures? SCENE 6: Actually, there aren’t any horrid creatures, but there is a chorus of Initiates to Demeter. Their goal: purifying hearts in Hades. SCENE 7: Dionysus and Xanthias finally make it to the home of Pluto, the king of the Underworld. Unfortunately, he’s not at home, and they’re met by his very angry servant Aeacus. Why is he angry? Because Hercules stole his beloved dog Cerberus! Dionysus definitely doesn’t want to be dressed up as Hercules if he’s going to be beaten up, so he changes clothes with Xanthias. INTERMISSION SCENE 8: Pluto’s servant Aeacus might be mad at Hercules the three- headed-dog thief, but Persephone’s servant is delighted to have the charming Hercules back and can’t wait to offer him a lavish meal. Xanthias is thrilled! But suddenly Dionysus thinks it’s rather nice to be Hercules and makes Xanthias give him back the Hercules costume. SCENE 9: But uh-oh! Two hostesses from Hades catch sight of Hercules, the guy who never never paid his giant tab. They’re out for revenge too! SCENE 10: So Dionysus makes Xanthias don the lion skin yet again, just as the angry Aeacus comes back with some heavies to beat up that dog-thief. But Aeacus is now a bit confused—who is Hercules, or Dionysus, or the slave? Xanthias has a solution: Aeacus should whip both of them really hard, and whoever does not scream in agony must be a god! Under the whip, Dionysus and Xanthias outdo each other in covering up their agonized screams so well that Aeacus, unable to decide, sends for Pluto and Persephone to identify their fellow god. SCENE 11: Meanwhile, the Initiates are back, and they mean business. And that means YOU, audience of Athenians! Shape up! SCENE 12: Meanwhile Xanthias and a fellow slave chew the fat. They discover the Underworld and Athens have a lot in common: Athens is caught in a civil war and so is Hades! The recently dead playwright Euripides is challenging the supremacy of the reigning dead playwright Aeschylus. It’s a matter for a jury to decide—under the most impartial judge in Hades: Dionysus. SCENE 13: The battle of the dead tragedians commences! Half the battle is trash-talking . but the other half is more serious. Which poet writes profoundly weighty verse, the reverential elitist Aeschylus or the champion of the people Euripides? The fate of Athens hangs in the balance . which we hope ends in a joyous call for excellence of soul in all things: Hey, hey, arete! REGINA PACIS ACADEMY Forming Saints and Scholars Since 2005 A NATIONAL CATHOLIC EDUCATION HONOR ROLL SCHOOL .