The words "Summer Camp" invoke images of tents or cabins and canoes, roasting marshmallows over a fire - but the summer camps I'm talking about don't involve the woods or the outdoors except for maybe lunch on the lawn - instead kids of various ages come to ASF for day camps and are learning about acting, singing, dancing, and various types of stage craft.

And summer is already here - it seems like it should still be March, or at the very earliest April, but without doubt school is out. I know, because those kids are now showing up in my building - and not just as patrons filing through the lobby into a theatre for a matinee.

My first summer here when hoards of little feet began tapping through the halls and across the rehearsal room floor turned me into a hermit - I spent as much time as I could in my office trying to avoid groups of (sometimes very young) kids. I learned the scene and costume shops were especially to be avoided, and if had to be entered, to watch out for wet paint from costume and prop projects.

After a few summers of this, I still have a tendency to lay low - and I still have to watch out for wet paint - but I've come to be really glad that so many kids come to us each summer to get a taste of producing theatre.

It's a big step for me to appreciate kids in mass... but I've made it. And here are a few reasons why I've changed my mind:

The sound of young voices in song, or learning to project words of Shakespeare is a beautiful thing. Too many young people find the Bard difficult, or weird. These kids - some as young as 7 or 8 are taking on the verse head on, and most of them fearlessly.

I've had some incredible experiences with kids who are interested in technical theatre - if not specifically what I do. Watching them walk into a "real" theatre that they see as amazing, grand, and mysterious - compared to the high school or community spaces they've been working in makes me smile. I also remember some of the first experiences I had in high school - sitting in on a college level tech, touring the back stage depths of a theatre I'd only seen from the front of the stage.

I've seen some energetic, passionate performances that reminded me that theatre IS a passion, or it should be - and not just a job.

Most of these kids will not turn to theatre - acting or otherwise - as a career, but there are exceptions. And even if they don't get a taste for the boards now (or later) more importantly, they will hopefully love the experience enough to become life long patrons.

Until next time cats and kittens - I'll be hanging out with the kids.

Cheers!

~R