Pasadena’s classical repertory theatre company A Noise Within (ANW) is wrapping up its five week intensive theater camp for kids ages six to eighteen with two separate performances to showcase the hard work these young campers have embarked upon in the name of Shakespeare and theater arts.
“Our campers have the unique experience of working with established professionals in the theatrical arts,” said said ANW Director of Education and Community Outreach Alicia Green, who holds a Master’s of Educational Theater from NYU’s Steinhardt School.
The “Summer With Shakespeare” camp is in its second year of operation and has 104 enrolled day campers is a conservatory-style program that that teaches acting, improvisation, stage diction, text analysis, kinetic exercises and stage combat to name a few.
The students are from communities all over Southern California, some as close as Pasadena and others as far away as Malibu.
Instruction is led by classically trained and professional actors, choreographers and designers like Green to to ensure that campers are properly submersed in the world stage theater.
“We’re about process over product,” said Green. “We don’t edit text and we treat them like professional actors.”
ANW was established in 1991 and moved to Pasadena in 2011 and is celebrating its 25th anniversary during the 2016-2017 season. It was recently named “one of the nation’s premier classical repertory companies” by the Huffington Post, according to a press release.
Campers in the six to nine age group study The Bard’s comedies, tragedies, histories and romances that culminates into a performance of a Shakespeare play where they apply their newfound skills of constructing sets, making costumes and even choreographing dances.
“Even our six year olds are literally doing ‘Hamlet’ word for word and I think that’s really exciting for them,” said Green. “Not to mention they learn things like sword fighting, too.”
Actors in the fourteen to eighteen age group take on a rewarding task of devoting their entire five weeks of dedication and learning into performing “The Comedy of Errors,” one of Shakespeare’s shortest comedies about two identical twins separated, Thursday night on the Redmond Stage at ANW.
“They learn self-confidence and they learn that they are capable of being something more than maybe they thought. The biggest thing is that they have fun,” said Green. “Watching kids get up and have an appreciation for Shakespeare and seeing how proud they are is a great feeling.”
In addition to producing world-class performances of classical theater, the organization runs robust education programs that are committed to inspiring diverse audiences of all ages year round, according to ANW.
The public is invited to see the young actors perform “The Comedy of Errors” Thursday at 7p.m. at A Noise Within located at 3352 East Foothill Blvd.
For more information visit www.anoisewithin.org.