Comedy of Errors
Putnam County Playhouse will conduct its 9th annual “Shakespeared!” Youth Theatre Workshop beginning Monday, June 17. Interested students should be enrolled or entering middle school, be high school age, or just beyond. No audition is required and the workshop is free!
“Shakespeared!” is sponsored by Shuee’s Furniture & Mattress.
Bringing to young people a love of Shakespeare’s beautiful and lively language, providing them a venue to explore their own creativity and talents in which they can perhaps find their own niche, and allowing them to express themselves while connecting to a brilliant mind that lived 400 years ago is the passionate mission for the Youth Theatre “Shakespeared!” Workshop.
This year, each group will render into manifestation a version of Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors. The younger group directed by Beth Bax, and the high school students, directed by Caroline Good, Program Director and creator, will creatively collaborate on their own versions of the play with the obligatory soundtrack of popular music, chase scenes, and cultural references bringing the play’s essence to life.
The entire “Shakespeared!” experience is designed to challenge the young player and to demystify the bard’s lively text in a fun and engaging way, empowering them with ownership of it. In addition to interacting with Shakespeare’s text and learning the play, students will have the opportunity to directly apply instruction in acting technique, movement, voice, improvisation, timing, character development, and subtext.
The groups will meet daily for two weeks in the afternoons. The middle school group meets 12:30-2:30pm and the high school group 3:00-5:30pm Monday-Friday for both weeks with the final performance on Saturday, June 29, at 7 p.m. at the Hazel Day Longden Theatre. Tickets for the performance will be available at the door.
We welcome all participants; there will be parts for everyone. We do not hold auditions per se, but we do cast the roles according to interest, experience, and vocal abilities. Therefore, it would be extremely beneficial to have some familiarity with the play’s story and characters coming into the workshop.
Online applications are available by clicking the Workshops tab at the top of the page. The deadline is Wednesday, June 12. The Workshop usually fills up fast, so apply early!
A workshop for younger children will be held in July. It will be conducted July 22-26, with a mini performance at 7 p.m. on Friday, July 26. The workshop will be held daily from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Deadline for these applications is July 17.