The teaching of classical Greek dramas is integral to drama education at the University of Pretoria. In the past few years these dramas increasingly faced the danger of becoming 'foreign'/irrelevant to modern day students. The introduction of performance practice to teach these dramas brought a whole new dimension to teaching and learning in the course. In this case study we describe how the once stagnant learning environment with the lecturer as sole distributor of knowledge, was reframed to allow for learner engagement and empowerment. We document the particular application of Heathcote's 'mantle of the expert' against three theories of educationally sound learning design. The nature of the learning that resulted is then described, based on an in-depth analysis of qualitative data gathered from two consecutive student cohorts. We conclude that this particular teaching approach not only brought the ancient texts to life, but also succeeded in empowering and motivating students Á resulting in a rich learning experience.Keywords: teaching innovation; classical Greek dramas; 'mantle of the expert'; text adaptation; performance practice; holistic student learning IntroductionCurriculum review and development in higher education in the broadest sense of the word is a continuous cyclical process of reflection, improvement and implementation. It is often during stages of challenge and risk that opportunities for reflection and improvement present themselves best (Mighty 2009). Our article describes how the teaching of classical Greek dramas (as integral part of drama education at the University of Pretoria) faced the risk of becoming 'foreign' to a new generation of students and how the learning space was innovatively reframed to create an exact opposite outcome.The particular innovation is presented as a case study within a defined second year course in Drama and Film Studies at the University of Pretoria Á taught by the same lecturer for the past number of years. After a description of the innovation as based on the lecturer's (first author) reflective observation and experience, the nature of the learning experience of the students is explored as research unit of analysis. How did you experience the particular approach to teaching the classics (explain briefly)?What (according to you) have you gained (skills, knowledge, insights, attitudes etc.) from this particular approach (things that you feel are useful for you in terms of current studies, your future career, or life in general)?What did you learn in terms of classical Greek drama? Any other comments?The open-ended nature of the questions left room for the study to follow the pattern of qualitative inquiry embedded in an interpretivist framework as described by Henning (2004, 1Á22). Data analysisResponses from the 2009-group were captured and analysed in ATLAS.ti. Phrases were coded individually and categorised according to emerging themes. Responses from the 2010-group were manually added to the existing categories and in a few instances, new themes and catego...