SWAMPSCOTT — The sounds of “EPIC: The Musical” drifted through the MakerSpace at the Swampscott Public Library Monday afternoon as paintbrushes moved across cardboard sets, cotton sheep took shape, and sock puppets with long braided ponytails dramatically flipped their hair.
Members of the library’s Teen Mythology Club, open to students in grades 5-12, spent the afternoon creating materials for a sock puppet adaptation of the popular musical inspired by Homer’s “Odyssey.” Teen Librarian Sarah Giardina said the group has been working on the production for a few months and expects to begin filming the project at its next meeting.
While the students who originally conceived the project were unable to attend this week’s meeting, five first-time participants eagerly stepped in to help bring the story to life.
Among them was Aoife Quann, who brought an enthusiasm for the musical and the mythology that quickly became contagious. Despite it being her first time joining the program, Aoife sang along to every lyric, could identify each puppet character by name, and happily answered questions about the story for those who were experiencing it for the first time.
“I watch this on, like, a regular basis,” she said of an animated version of the musical that played in the background.
Aoife estimated that she had watched the musical about 18 times, joking that she probably shouldn’t discuss the number of times she had listened to the full album on other streaming services.
Her interest in EPIC grew out of a broader love of Greek mythology, one she shares with several members of the club. The young avid readers eagerly shared the roots of their interest, whether it be from a Greek mythology unit in school or Rick Riordan’s “Percy Jackson” series.
Aoife said she recently bought a (500-page) poetic retelling of “The Odyssey,” which she plans to read on an upcoming family trip. She learned about the club from her friend, Orla Delaney, who had spent the afternoon volunteering in the library’s children’s room before joining the meeting.
Orla had previously spied a box labeled “Mythology Club” one afternoon at the library, which sparked an immediate interest for the two Percy Jackson aficionados.
“I started reading Percy Jackson this year and I really enjoyed it,” Orla said. “And then when we discovered there’s a mythology club and they’re right in the middle of their Greek mythology unit, I thought it would be really fun.”
And while Aoife sang along and the pair crafted cardboard daggers and discussed their favorite mythological figures (Aoife is partial to the “chill” Goddess Hestia, while Orla, a music lover, prefers any of the nine muses), the club seemed to be a natural fit.
For Mae Delano, the club was a chance to continue exploring a subject she had recently enjoyed in school. Mae, along with her younger sister Coco and classmate Emory Schultz, was quick to jump in on the action — posing sock puppets, crafting ocean scenes, creating Polyphemus’ sheep, and cutting out cardboard swords.
All five new members of the Mythology Club are regular faces at the Swampscott Public Library. They’re all participating in the library’s summer reading program, which rewards reading with raffle tickets while encouraging participants to complete bonus activities, including attending library programs.
Orla said the library’s annual summer reading program has become an essential part of her summer routine.
“It’s really fun,” she said. “There’s a bunch of different things that you can do. They change it up every year, so it’s always a different theme. And there’s prizes you can get.”
As the meeting drew to a close, the room grew noticeably quieter. Paintbrushes slowed, conversations stopped, and nearly everyone turned toward the computer in the back of the room, where Circe was turning Odysseus’ men into pigs (a fan-favorite scene amongst club members).
The new members said they hoped to return to the club in the coming weeks to begin bringing those characters to life as filming starts on the Teen Mythology Club’s own sock puppet production of EPIC: The Musical.
