Here are a few reflections from our 2012 campers! We are very proud of them.
I was nervous at first but after some time, I became really comfortable. I really enjoyed our first day and decided that I wanted to continue to participate in this camp. Our teachers, Laura and Jaymes, were really nice to me. They were always cheerful and encouraging. Each day, we did warm-up’s first by doing some stretches. After stretches, Jaymes led us in some vocal warm-up’s. We would do some tongue twisters every day. Everybody got better at the tongue twisters as we practiced them.
I had a lot of fun with all the other kids. I’m sad that it ended because I wanted to go back for more learning and having fun. I definitely plan on participating again next year and look forward to another great time."
-Joe, 13
"I think the Youth Shakespeare Project was good because it gave my summer some structure, and going to learn about Shakespeare is better than just sitting home and watching TV. (Not that that's what I'd do or anything.) Also Laura and Jaymes did a good job thinking of games that helped us learn to project and enunciate. I learned a little bit about acting and how a play is really put together. I think Laura and Jaymes chose the parts well, and i feel that Puck was the part I would have played best. I liked playing Puck because he's younger than most of the other characters, and I always imagine him as a kid, sort of like me. I hope to do it next summer. And if they do "Midsummer Night's Dream" again, I'd like to be Hermia. I'd like Hermia because she's older and more mature as a character than Puck (even though she's young to be getting married). She's one of the main characters, and I like her better than Helena, because Helena is sort of soppy and tells Demetrius about Hermia and Lysander running away.
I also liked working with all the other kids, especially since most of them were a lot older than me. You don't usually get to work with people who are older, and most plays I'm in, everyone's the same age. But with older people, it feels more like a real play because the older people play the older parts. When everyone's the same age, you have to cast people who aren't really suited to the part. Parts like Hippolyta and the Rude Mechanicals had an even harder time changing in and out of costumes and learning two parts.
It felt like a real play because we had a big theater with a lot of chairs and spotlights, and a backstage and curtains. We didn't really have a lot of scenery, so we had to improvise and make it seem like we were in the forest or the court, when we only had a bunch of chairs. Even without the scenery, it really felt like we were there."
-Rosa, 11
For at least six weeks, I practiced acting out the part of "Bottom", from a Midsummer's Night Dream. To me, it was tedious trying to learn my lines (according to the counselors, I had the most), but they made it fun by several games we played, one of which was "Hep", which was my favorite. I made friends with several kids in the group, including Eli, Garret, and Joe. I don't exactly remember being nervous for the actual play, until I had a malfunction with one of my donkey ears during rehearsal. Overall, I surprisingly enjoyed my experience there, and I may join again next year.
-Henry, 15
