The Greeks on Stage

Dramatising twenty-five myths for children seems from these versions, a very good idea. McCaughrean knows so well how to tell a good story and how to retell a good old story for today’s young people. These mostly well-known stories become an array of voices: gods and mortals, Apollo with a ventriloquist’s dummy (yes ‘gocckle of geer’), and Icarus mimicking aeroplane noises as he flies. Dialogue reflects the characters and is mostly straightforwardly simple with some glimpses of the richness of the original stories. The scripts are well-planned with helpful guidance about staging, useful stage directions and link scenes to make a longer sequence. This is a book that many groups of children will have a lot of fun using (pity about the price).