HERITAGE SCHOOL
In the 1990s, while teaching at the Heritage School in Provo, Utah, Demetria found that theater could be form of therapy, a way to reach at-risk students and empower them to change their lives.
She gave more than a dozen students a taste of drama with the production of Iphigenia in Tauris, a complicated Greek tragedy centered on a young princess Iphigenia betrayed by her father the king Agamemnon. The play was chosen because Demetria saw that many of the students could identify with the story surrounding the protagonist.
Demetria says her students learned confidence and accountability – they need to get it right or look silly in front of an audience. Performing in a play also helped them learn to work together and to follow directions. “After doing the play, the students weren’t the same,” Demetria said.
One student who played the head guard said, “It made me feel better about life, to relate to other people and poetic speech. It taught me never to give up. If I set my mind to something, I can do it. There are no limits.” Before the play, he had been less optimistic. Society had been telling him he could never achieve anything because of where he came from and what he’d done.
Director Konstantine Kinis, who Demetria calls the Steven Spielberg of Greece, understands the therapeutic benefit of theater. “When a person becomes involved in the Arts, they become enlightened. These kids’ lives have changed in 5 weeks. They will translate the poetry of the play into their lives.”
She gave more than a dozen students a taste of drama with the production of Iphigenia in Tauris, a complicated Greek tragedy centered on a young princess Iphigenia betrayed by her father the king Agamemnon. The play was chosen because Demetria saw that many of the students could identify with the story surrounding the protagonist.
Demetria says her students learned confidence and accountability – they need to get it right or look silly in front of an audience. Performing in a play also helped them learn to work together and to follow directions. “After doing the play, the students weren’t the same,” Demetria said.
One student who played the head guard said, “It made me feel better about life, to relate to other people and poetic speech. It taught me never to give up. If I set my mind to something, I can do it. There are no limits.” Before the play, he had been less optimistic. Society had been telling him he could never achieve anything because of where he came from and what he’d done.
Director Konstantine Kinis, who Demetria calls the Steven Spielberg of Greece, understands the therapeutic benefit of theater. “When a person becomes involved in the Arts, they become enlightened. These kids’ lives have changed in 5 weeks. They will translate the poetry of the play into their lives.”