BEEBE — In the costume shop, a group of “fairies” ripped apart costumes to alter them to suit their needs as cast members of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
“I want this to be shorter and poofier,” fourth-grader Kailee Walker said as she held a sparkly purple costume up to her front. “I like this one because it’s more Peaseblossomy than the others.”
Seventeen kids ranging in age from 10 to 15 are participating in Arkansas State University-Beebe’s Star Children’s Theater Camp. The four-week camp teaches the budding thespians every aspect of theater, from costume design to set design, as well as acting.
The focus of the camp is for participants to gain experience in all aspects of theater, such as constructing set pieces, making costumes and preparing individual parts for presentation. The acting camp may also increase participants’ vocabulary, as well as improve their acting skills.
“Now put your hands on your diaphragm,” Sandra Williams told a group of “mechanicals” who were warming up for a line rehearsal on the Owen Center stage at the university. “Now walk in a circle with one hand on your diaphragm and the other swinging at your side.”
Williams is an instructor of speech and theater at ASU Beebe, and she is directing the camp. She explained that the kids are broken into three groups that switch places at certain times of the day. Each group will spend time in the costume shop researching, designing and making their own costumes. The groups will also work in the scene shop making props for the set, and an equal amount of time will be spent on stage rehearsing for the upcoming performance.
The summer day camp, which began July 9 and will run through Aug. 2, is designed for kids who range from first-time to seasoned performers. The camp will result in a performance of their rendition of A Midsummer Night’s Dream for family and friends at 7 p.m. Aug. 2, then one for the public at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 3.
With the help of Brad Roberds, the scene-shop foreman at the university, the “Athenians” were working on making tree stumps from bar stools, chicken wire and paper.
Ninth-grader Seth Wyatt of Cabot is one of the seasoned performers in the group. He has been in several productions through the Central Arkansas Performing Arts Academy in Cabot, including playing the role of Ralphie in A Christmas Story. This is Seth’s third year to attend the ASU-Beebe Star Children’s Theater Camp.
“This is my first Shakespeare play,” he said as he wrestled with a sheet of chicken wire that he was trying to wrap around the bar stool.
MaryClaire Durr, a seventh-grader from Beebe, is another seasoned actor.
“This is my third year for the camp,” she said as she forced pressure on a staple gun to attach the chicken wire to the stool. “I really enjoy theater; I love theater.”
Ian Hall, a seventh-grader from Augusta, helped the other two by trimming the chicken wire and forming rootlike shapes at the base of the stool.
Ian is also a seasoned actor who performed in a Theater Kids group in Mississippi.
For more information on the camp and registration information for next summer, visit asub.edu/efa/childrenstheatre.
Staff writer Jeanni Brosius can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or jbrosius@arkansasonlinecom.
Three Rivers, Pages 115 on 07/22/2012