Linsey Gessner and Hannah Wemitt are smiling. Their enthusiasm is both charming and infectious. Gessner is the education associate and Wemitt is the marketing director for StageOne Family Theatre. As they share about StageOne’s upcoming DramaWorks summer camp season, it is immediately clear that these women love their jobs.
“I get paid to play all day,” said Gessner.
StageOne has been offering DramaWorks theater camps for children ages 4 to 18 for the past 20 years. Over the years, locations have changed and the number of camps has multiplied, but one thing has remained constant: Kids love the camp and come back year after year. In fact, kids love the Fairytale Kingdom camp so much that the theater company has added several sections of it each summer to accommodate the demand.
According to Gessner, the camps are divided into two basic groups: theme-based camps that focus on theatrical process and performance-based camps that focus on production.
Theme-based camps appeal to younger campers and introduce the idea of using body, voice, and imagination to create characters and scenes. The camps employ imaginative games fitted to the camp theme to teach these dramatic concepts. For instance, in the Underwater Adventures! camp for ages 4 to 6, the teacher might ask the children to pretend they are on a pirate ship, walking the plank. The children need to use their bodies, voices, and imaginations to convince the audience of how they feel.
For the older children, DramaWorks offers rigorous theatrical experiences, such as Audition Techniques and Technical Theatre Intensive.Technical Theatre Intensive will give students a well-rounded experience in stagecraft, costuming, set design, and makeup. The 12 to 18 year old students participating in this camp will provide assistance to the performance camps who are producing the plays “Beauty and the Beast Jr.” and “Fame Jr.” Wemitt has already been receiving a lot of phone calls from parents and teenagers interested in the Technical Theatre Intensive camp because no one else in town is offering such an experience. Both Gessner and Wemitt are particularly excited about this camp.
“It shows that there are so many [career] opportunities happening in theater,” said Wemitt.
Another signature camp of DramaWorks is Movie Magic!, offered for ages 8 to 11. Children attending this full-day camp will create a film from the ground up, from storyboards to casting to filming to editing.
“I’m super excited about this one,” said Gessner.
Last summer, DramaWorks moved its operations to Lincoln Elementary Performing Arts School, where the camps will also reside this summer. Because of their relationship with Lincoln, DramaWorks offers scholarships to all Lincoln students. At Lincoln, the camps make use of theater classrooms, film editing software, and the Owsley Brown II Black Box Theater.
“It’s perfect for what we do,” said Gessner.
Many children grow up coming to DramaWorks camps.
“I get really pumped up!” said Gessner. “I can’t wait to see [the returning kids].”
But not all of the older students return as campers. This year DramaWorks will employ five to seven high school students as education interns. These students will help teach the younger campers. Wemitt believes the internship program is a great opportunity for theater students to receive hands-on education training and also a great experience to add to a college resume.
Gessner and Wemitt know that the theater track students are not the only ones who benefit from the summer camps. Both women have stories about shy children with social anxieties who found their voices after only a few days of camp.
“They get to be someone else,” said Wemitt.
“Dramatic play gives kids an opportunity to shine,” said Gessner.
Even children who have had stage fright have found a way to participate.
“Not all kids need to get up and perform, but everyone [at camp] has a job,” said Wemitt.
Gessner even recalls a little boy who found his calling shouting, “Action!”
Camps begin this summer on June 10 and run through August 2. Visit the StageOne website for specific dates, themes, times, and prices. DramaWorks offers a 10 percent sibling discount. All camps will be held at Lincoln, except the Technical Theatre Intensive, which will take place at StageOne’s scene shop at 1001 West Ormsby Avenue.
The Details:
StageOne Family Theatre
(502) 498-2436
DramaWorks summer camps
Lincoln Elementary Performing
Arts School
930 East Main Street
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