Dramatic scenes as Latin play competition returns to The Perse
Ludi Scaenici returned for the first time since 2019 as young actors took to the stage in the Peter Hall Performing Arts Centre for the Latin play competition.
A cast of Perse pupils were joined by counterparts from St John’s College School, St Mary’s School and Norwich High School to perform original Latin scripts written from scratch by staff or students.
The performances were judged by Dr Rosanna Omitowoju from the University of Cambridge’s Faculty of Classics, Stephen Kern, former Perse teacher and local Classical Association secretary, and Katharine Russell, Head of Classics at Chesterton Community College.
The Perse play, written by a group of Lower Sixth students, was praised by the judges for its inventiveness, the convincing dinner party setting that was created and some strong individual performances. The Roman cats in particular were commended for their comic timing.
Nevertheless, St John’s emerged as the winners with a very novel take on the meddling of the gods in the lives of mortals.
Perse Head of Classics Seb Foster said: “It was a pleasure to once again host Ludi Scaenici. The standard of spoken Latin and the dramatic performances themselves were excellent, with all pupils throwing themselves into the occasion.
“Congratulations must go to St John’s for winning the competition with a superbly innovative play. Yet arguably the greatest triumph of the day was seeing a number of young students being able to take part in live Latin performances once again, something that has not been possible for the past three years.”
Pupils involved in the Perse performance included Amelie Brown, Sophie De Young, Amatullah Mumisa, Enrica Russo, Leena Shaukat, Hanrong Zeng, Hanyu Zeng, Emily Cheng (all Year 8), Hetty Baldwin, Paloma Bargh, Yinghao Chen, Isla Cochrane, Catherine Follows, Jahnavi Manya, Zara Osei (all Year 9), Jem Bennett, Eos Liao, Tengyu Zhao, Yunlin Chen and Benjamin Sharpstone (all Lower Sixth).
Published