Students from both sections of AP Literature, taught by Rachel Gross, took a field trip to the Court Theater in Hyde Park to watch the Greek play, “Antigone,” be performed live. Students had recently read the play during class, prompting Gross to take her students, joining students from other schools including Niles North, to watch the story brought to life. The students enjoyed a lunch in downtown Hyde Park after experiencing the play live.

Gross shares her thoughts on the play and her appreciation for her students’ reactions.

“I loved the performance. I thought it was a creative application of an ancient text to contemporary issues. The play lends itself to that because it deals with the ever-present conflict between morality and legality. My students seemed to really enjoy it. It was great to see them watching carefully. I got a kick out of them whispering to each other when they heard the actors speak the lines that appeared on their in-class essay the previous day. I think live theater is worthwhile whether you’ve read the play ahead of time or not, but having just studied the play together, I think my students had a meaningful experience,” Gross said.

Senior Juanita Estrada also shares a review of the play from her perspective in addition to her thoughts on the field trip as a whole.

“I thought the field trip was really fun and a really creative way to immerse us into the story about the play we just read. I loved that it was a different interpretation, but still the same message at its core. I loved going out to lunch, it was super nice to take time to just process what we saw and get to spend time with friends talking about it. Since we were online during our first year and basically went on no field trips from freshman to junior year, it felt super fun to be able to go on a field trip during our last year,” Estrada said.

Senior Annette Park, enjoyed the play and its different interpretation of the story.

“I think the field trip was definitely fun but the best part about it, to me at least, was how it helped better my interpretation of the message of the play. Even though some aspects of the in-person play differed from the actual reading we read and analyzed in class, watching the play helped me to understand it better. I’m very grateful that we are able to go on trips like these,” Park said.

Gross also expressed her gratitude towards in-person learning, specifically how it once again has eased the process of planning a field trip.

“When it works out, it’s nice to be able to adapt my teaching plan to what is being performed live in our area. I appreciate field trips now more than ever. Remote learning really highlighted how important it is to actually be together to learn. I won’t take it for granted that our school allows and subsidizes field trips,” Gross said.