Author: barringtonstagekidsact

We drew even closer to the culmination of our first session today as we worked and worked to perfect the music, the dancing, and the staging of both of our wonderful shows. It was exciting for the KidsAct and TeensAct groups to be able to each do a full dress rehearsal onstage and for them to watch the other group and cheer each other on! Today also included pizza for lunch and a couple rousing rounds of “Yeehaw!” to follow, which kept the fun going all day long. The plays that each group has created over the past two weeks are delightfully creative and wonderful, and we simply cannot wait to share them at our final performances tomorrow!

Today we took refuge from the heat at the much better air-conditioned Wolfson center, where we spent all day work shopping and refining our plays. TeensAct! worked diligently on completing a first draft of their entire play, while KidsAct! nailed down the first half of theirs with transitions and everything, adding in new comedic bits along the way. We’re excited for the fourth of July but can’t wait to jump back into working on our plays on Thursday!

Following our trip to the Berkshire Museum, we dove straight into devising our original musicals, drawing on inspiration from what we saw there. Sam also introduced both KidsAct and TeensAct to the world of commedia, which provided additional material to utilize in terms of characters that could be incorporated into our stories. Jane also taught an improv class with KidsAct, where they played with emotions, and Katy taught choreography for “Believe” from Finding Neverland, which will be the opening number. The structure of both plays – one a tale of forbidden love set in Paris and the other a story of Greek gods and mortals – is really starting to take shape!

Today we took KidsAct and TeensAct on the road to the Berkshire Museum in search of material for our devised plays. KidsAct focused mostly on studying the animals in the taxidermy exhibit and in the aquarium, including mountain lions, chameleons, seahorses, legless lizards, and poison dart frogs. They chose animals that excited them, and once they returned from the museum they worked on embodying their chosen animals. Finally, they devised scenes by drawing inspiration from their animals to create characters. TeensAct studied the other exhibits in the museum and was inspired by a statue of Aphrodite to create scenes rooted in Greek mythology, one involving Kronos and the other surrounding a fight over Paris. It was an exciting day that sparked many creative efforts that will be the beginnings of our very own plays!

The first day of camp was a resounding success! KidsAct and TeensAct spent the day playing get-to-know-you games, learning about and practicing pantomime and the rules of improv, and devising using still images. KidsAct represented fairy tales in three images, and TeensAct told stories about when they were surprised in three images. Both groups also learned a song from the musical Finding Neverland called “Believe,” and TeensAct learned a dance to the song. The day concluded with sharing the images that had been created and with a few rounds of Park Bench and Three-Headed Expert. Altogether, it was a successful and fun-filled first day!

Training and preparation week for the KidsAct!/TeensAct! team is in full swing, and we could not be more excited to get the summer started! While we eagerly anticipate the beginning of our first session next week, I wanted to share the mission statement the staff developed, as shown in the photo above:

“We believe in the power of theatre to inspire and nurture young minds. We create a fun, collaborative environment where we hope to foster confidence, creativity, and ownership through devising original material.”

Looking forward to meeting our first group of young artists on Monday!