I survived my first day of theatre camp...

Let me preface this by saying that I have been a sleep away summer camp counsellor/arts and crafts director for seven years. I have also directed kids in grades 1 through 9 in productions (mainly of modified Shakespeare). But I've never done theatre camp...

Today was nothing short of insanity. Chaos. Well, organized chaos. Loosely organized. 22 wonderful, loud, energetic, enthusiastic, wild and crazy campers, ages seven to 14. One teaching artist (The Director). One counsellor (and a highly qualified one, might I add). Needless to say, The Director and I were somewhat outnumbered. From a theatre standpoint, no problem. From a "be quiet and keep your hands to yourself" standpoint, somewhat more complicated. Lots of little boys with active imaginations and energy to spare. Great for the former, challenging for the latter. But they're fun...and it was a very productive day.

We started with fun warm up and improv games...lots of running around, which was helpful given the collective inability to stand still. Everyone got along (although it's still only the first day) and they make an excellent ensemble--a wide variety of personalities. We have some drama queens and some incredible comedians (the lone 7 year old is absolutely hilarious)! It can only get crazier from here...

The plan is to write a play. As a group. Which we will perform for the parents on Friday. This is asking a lot of a group so large and varied and, well, young. But after watching the scenes they came up with entirely on their own today, I am confident that they are more than capable. In groups of five or so they were told to come up with a short scene (2-3 minutes) that must have 1) a place, 2) characters and relationships, 3) a problem, 4) something that makes the problem worse, and 5) a solution. And every single group managed to have all of those things. Twice. Eight totally different scenes.

Kids are so amazing. Because, for the most part, at that age they haven't learned to ignore their impulses. They go with it. They come up with the most incredible ideas and they don't hold back. We lose that little by little as we get older...

So our play...the workshopping officially begins tomorrow. But the play will be set in a medieval village where a shadow creature tries to take over the world. This is what they voted on. The characters remain to be seen, but their ideas ranged from mermaids and Greek gods to juice boxes. Really, this could go anywhere...Stay tuned!