Lander Grinspoon Academy sixth graders Eliana Finkel, left, and Danny Valitt perform a rap during a rehearsal for a play the sixth grade class wrote to illustrate the Book of Esther, which they told via a cast of fairy tale characters. As part of a celebration of the Jewish festival of Purim, the troupe performs the play for the Lathrop Community in Northampton on Thursday and for the rest of the LGA student body on Friday.
Lander Grinspoon Academy sixth graders Eliana Finkel, left, and Danny Valitt perform a rap during a rehearsal for a play the sixth grade class wrote to illustrate the Book of Esther, which they told via a cast of fairy tale characters. As part of a celebration of the Jewish festival of Purim, the troupe performs the play for the Lathrop Community in Northampton on Thursday and for the rest of the LGA student body on Friday. Credit: KEVIN GUTTING—KEVIN GUTTING

As part of a celebration of the Jewish festival of Purim, Lander Grinspoon Academy students have written and will perform plays for the Lathrop Community in Northampton on Thursday and for the rest of the student body on Friday.

Above, sixth-graders Eliana Finkel, left, as a devil, Hannah Donnelly, as Esther, and Stella Templin, as an angel, rehearse a play the sixth-grade class wrote to illustrate the “Book of Esther,” a young Jewish girl who risked her life to serve God and save her people. The students told the story via a cast of fairy-tale characters.

At left, sixth-graders Danny Valitt and Avital Serlin rehearse the play.

Below, seated from left, Danny Valitt, Amos Kohrman and Avital Serlin, in the roles of food judges, and Juliet Corwin, background, as emcee, practice their lines.