The Show Must Go On

Aida is a story of love, war, and betrayal set against the backdrop of an imagined version of ancient Egypt. An emotional rollercoaster told through Verdi’s powerful music and thoughtfully crafted characters, the opera is both grand and intimate in its exploration of political power and private feeling. 

In this activity, students will explore the structure of Aida and its key players, entertain a historical counterfactual to create quick costumes from found materials, and explore the opera’s conclusion through an improvised acting exercise. As a result, they will have a firmer grasp of the opera’s central conflicts as well as the historical and aesthetic ramifications of the work’s imagined Egyptian setting.

STEP 1. WARM UP

Before students dive into the thrilling story of Aida, have them warm up with an improvisational storytelling game.

• First, gather all students in a circle; you will serve as moderator in the center of the circle.
• Provide the setting for the story: Since you are exploring Aida, you will use ancient Egypt as your setting.
• Once you have explained the story’s setting, point to one person in the circle. This person must begin telling a story set in ancient Egypt. The storyteller must speak until you, the moderator, snap or clap.
• When the snap/clap sounds, the storyteller stops speaking immediately. You will then point to another person in the circle who must continue the story, beginning with the last word spoken by the previous storyteller.
• The new storyteller must then tell the next part of the story until the moderator snaps/claps again and a new storyteller is selected.
• When everyone in the circle has gotten to tell part of the story, you can begin again with a new setting or conclude the warmup exercise.

Have your students discuss as a group how and why they developed their story. How much was based on knowledge of ancient Egypt? What ideas and images come to mind when they imagine this setting? How do biases, myths, and preconceptions inform the way we describe ancient or foreign cultures? What steps could be taken to tell a more accurate or meaningful story?

STEP 2. REVIEW

Now that students have warmed up, they can start to explore the plot and structure of Aida. The goal of this exercise is to quickly introduce the first half of the opera in a memorable way using physical improvisation.

• Students should still be standing in a circle from the warmup exercise. The center of the circle is the acting space for an improvised performance of the plot of Aida.
• Assign one student to serve as the narrator. Using the handout included with this guide, ask the student to read the synopsis of Act I of Aida. As the narrator reads from the handout, students on the perimeter of the circle should enter the improvisation space in the middle of the circle and act out what they hear.
• Actors in the center of the circle can play any part that they imagine is in the story. For example, one student must play Aida, and another Radamès, but someone might also play the throne, or even Radamès’s sword. Encourage students to get creative about “setting the scene” and using their bodies as inanimate objects or nonhuman figures (i.e., gods or animals)!
• While improvising in the middle of the circle, actors must remain silent so that the narrator’s voice can be heard.
• When the narrator has reached the end of the Act I synopsis, ask everyone to return to the perimeter of the circle.
• Using the same handout, the narrator should ask the whole group to reflect on the scenes they have just acted out.
• Once the questions for Act I have been answered, repeat the exercise for Act II using a new narrator.

STEP 3. CREATE

Now that students have familiarized themselves with the opera’s plot, they can begin to explore its characters further by acting out an afternoon talk show. But before they can begin, students will need to cast the opera and costume its actors.

Recall that the costumes for the planned premiere of Aida were held hostage in Paris by the onset of the Franco-Prussian War. Ask students to imagine they are responsible for assembling last-minute costumes so the performance can proceed as planned. Using found materials throughout your classroom (you can set up some helpful items in advance), they should get creative and use whatever is at their disposal to craft original costumes from scratch. For this exercise, students can use the “Cast and Costume” handout included with this guide.

Break students into groups of three to five and assign each group to represent one of the major characters from the opera: Aida, Amneris, Radamès, Amonasro, Ramfis, and the King. You will also need one student from the class to play the talk show host. Distribute the “Cast and Costume” cards for each character to the corresponding group. Set a timer for ten minutes. Students must stop working immediately when the timer sounds.

In their allotted time, each group must:

• Select an actor to play the role of the group’s assigned character
• Gather found materials around the classroom to build their character’s costume
• Put the character in costume
• Have the talk show host review the plot from the first two acts and think of questions they would like to ask their guests

STEP 4. IMPROVISE

When the timer goes off, it is time for the talk show to begin! To set the scene, place seven chairs in front of the class (one for the host and six for the Aida character guests). The host will welcome the audience to their talk show before selecting any character, or multiple characters, from Aida that they would like to interview. When they are invited onstage, the actors can speak in the first person as their assigned character.

When the host has interviewed each character, the class can discuss the interviews as a group and guess how the opera will end.

Here are some sample interview questions. For Aida, the host might ask:

• “Tell me about your relationship with Radamès.”
• “What do you really think about Amneris?”
• “What do you miss most about your home country?”

For Radamès, the host might ask:

• “You are a famous warrior. What is your weapon of choice?”
• “Are you dating anyone?”
• “What are your honest thoughts about Amneris?”