The Youth Theatre Workshops at the Putnam County Playhouse cater to elementary, middle, and high school students, grades 2nd through high school (and beyond). We offer an annual Shakespeare workshop every June for middle schoolers and high schoolers and a Children’s Theatre Workshop in July.
Our annual two-week-long “Shakespeared!” Workshop centers around one Shakespeare play with the middle schoolers performing a more traditional version, and the high schoolers tackling a more comedic version that incorporates a creative theme, a lively soundtrack, and pop-culture references. The workshop provides kids with an opportunity to engage with Shakespeare’s text in a fun way and to see the potential interpretations that lie within the text. This workshop meets in the afternoons Monday-Friday during the last two full weeks in June with a Saturday evening combined performance when each group presents their version. The dates for 2018 are June 18-29 with a performance of Romeo & Juliet on Saturday, June 30th.
Our annual week-long Children’s Theatre Workshop is offered to kids entering 2nd through 5th grade and takes place during the third week every July. The workshop sessions are held in the mornings Monday-Friday and include one hour of instruction in acting, voice and diction, and movement for the stage through fun and engaging games; the second hour is devoted to each of the three groups rehearsing a short play. Having each age group doing a short play allows for the children to have larger roles and more stage time. The plays are comedic adaptations of familiar fairy tales, myths, and stories. The workshop culminates in a Friday evening performance that includes a demonstration of games the kids played throughout the week and a presentation of their plays. Our mission is to not only provide a venue for kids to creatively express themselves, but also to expose them to the world of theatre and cultural literacy through the stories they dramatize. The dates for the 2018 Children’s Workshop are July 23-27thwith a Friday evening performance of “Funky Fairytales” on July 27.th at 7pm.
Registration for both workshops are now open. At the website, go to the CURRENT SEASON tab at the top of the page, and click on the Registration tabs. The workshops are free thanks to a grant from Arts Illiana and our sponsor Shuee Furniture & Mattress.
Click HERE to read more about our sponsor.
Registration for SHAKESPEARED! will end on June 8 and for the Children’s Theatre Workshop on July 13 OR when each workshop is full.
