I had so much fun with our new CYT camp this summer! Because of my love of the bard, I convinced everyone that we needed to try a day camp for teens which focused on one of the great classic plays of the English language. And since I'm the boss, I was very convincing :)
We had 25 kids and three staff members, plus one student assistant/slave working at the camp by the end of the week. At the beginning, we thought two teachers would be enough... but these kids needed more of us to keep them busy, so we imported my friend, Jeff Rocco, the AD for the North Idaho CYT branch. He taught the kids fencing, Shakespearean improv, and focused on helping Lauren with costumes and makeup while Zach and I did the blocking for the show itself. He was such a life-saver!
I can't tell you how fun it was to watch the kids bond and build lasting friendships over something as nerdy as Shakespeare. They had a blast!
The theme for the week was A Midsummer Night's Dream, and we rehearsed/learned lines like crazy. By the time we were done, we had prepped a 45 minute showcase from a reduced script which I made. And as we arrived at the venue, we discovered that a truck had knocked over a telephone pole down the street so all power was out. We had to make a last minute change and move our show out of doors. What a happy accident! The kids were a bit nervous about the change, but it was fun performing the Bard in the outdoors. We all decided that we should do our camp showcases this way every year!
Donny even liked the showcase... or at least he liked being outside on a blanket with toys :) Maybe someday he'll want to be the kid in the leotards performing classic shows? I hope so!
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