During the summers of 2013 and 2014 I worked as a drama instructor at the historic Empress Theatre in Fort Macleod, Alberta. The camps were different each week and focused on creating an original piece of theatre to perform at the end of the week. Our weeks included Collaborative Creation, Vaudeville, Musical Theatre Extravaganza, Theatre Take-Off, Puppetry, and Technical Theatre.
Each of these weeks was something completely new and different. We had students ages 9-15 through the summer and I worked with one other colleague for teaching. Through the program I was also given the chance to work on the Vaudeville performances. These are variety shows done by the Empress during the summer in which the instructors take on the roll of director, stage manager, designer, front of house managers and teachers. We built a show with the students that week and slotted in local performers to make one coherent show. It was a true honor to have been a part of such a great theatre community and I hope to get involved in the future. What this experience has taught me is that students come first. Regardless of the politics or chaos surrounding the launch of a show, it is my job as an educator to ensure that my students have a positive experience and learn something from their time in the program. |
As well as teaching the acting side of Theatre, I also focused heavily on teaching students the technical side of the performances. This included teaching light board operation, sound board operation, light design, sound design, sound and light instruments used on stage, how to work with the equipment, and stage management. Students during their time at camp were able to work in a hands-on environment with the equipment with myself and the other camp instructor by their side.
My favorite memory of technical theatre camps were days where students were given their "final assignment" in which they were given a piece of music that they had to design the lights and sound for. Students developed a feeling on stage with the lights and worked with the piece of music on both the laptop to adjust it's tones and special effects as well as the sound board to adjust how it sounded in a theatre space. The creativity and ability of these 12-14 year old students astounded me. Middle school aged students are more than capable of amazing theatrical things if we give them the opportunities to do so. |