Last week we had a show in our school. An actor from the Big Wheel Theatre Company (BWTC) talked about a handful of books from a bunch of different genres.
The actor (his name is unknown to me) started trying an American accent and reading the beginning of a book that he had with him. He really knew how to get and keep the attention of the students. In my opinion it was really fun! He made the show really interactive using different games and gimmicks (as you can see in the pictures below). He also taught us a way to read books so you always know what the book is about, which can come in really handy! Especially for someone like me, who in general finds it hard to read a book. Another thing he taught us, is that a book can combine multiple genres and even genres that are actually already 2 or more different genres. The books he talked about were: Animal Farm, The Big Sleep, Normal People and The hate U gave me. We also talked about these books in class before the show.
I must say that I found Animal Farm the most interesting. It’s about farm animals who overthrew the farmer, because they wanted to be equal and free. But after a while, the pigs took control and started a society that worked pretty much the same as that of humans. The book is a representation of Russia and its communist leaders in the 20th century. I think it’s really clever to tell this story in the context of animals. That way, people read it more easily without thinking they’re getting a history lesson.
Like I said earlier on, the actor made his show really interactive. He taught us a silly ‘dance’ or ‘moves’ which he made all the students do every time when he had made a certain ‘educational point’. Another game we played, was a kind of quiz about genres, in which the contestants had to race towards him when they knew the answer. Whoever arrived first and got it right, got a point.
In general, I really enjoyed the show.
I really wouldn’t mind experiencing it again!
Maarten Aerts – 5TW
