After serving as assistant director and helping to develop a new curriculum last summer, Aaron Anthony Bonilla will lead the Kingsmen Shakespeare Company’s 2014 Summer Theatre Camp. Bonilla also designed a new teacher development program for the apprentices who teach in the camp and previously served as lead teacher. A graduate of the Pacific Conservatory of Performing Arts, he has spent 13 years devoted to theater production, performance and education.
Co-presented by California Lutheran University, the camp provides opportunities for children to learn theater techniques and try them out on stage while developing self-awareness, confidence and discipline. Everyone is cast in a final presentation for family and friends. Students in the Shakespeare camps will perform shortened versions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream or The Comedy of Errors. Here are the summer classes available:
Beginning Shakespeare (Ages 8-12)
Includes text analysis, vocabulary, stage movement and combat techniques as students prepare to present scenes on stage.
Advanced Shakespeare I and II (Ages 8-16)
More in-depth work on Shakespeare scenes, stage combat, period dance and acting techniques concluding with a presentation of challenging scenes.
Acting Techniques (Ages 12-16)
Students will study voice, movement, improvisation and stage combat while preparing to perform prepared scenes and original work.
Musical Theatre (Ages 12-16)
Covers vocal technique, acting and dance, culminating in a performance of selections from a musical.
Summer Camp staff members include former director Michael McCambridge, an associate professor of education at CLU who has more than 40 years of experience in education and drama, and Barbara Wegher-Thompson, who teaches dance and movement at CLU and has been involved with the Young Artists Ensemble. She will again teach Musical Theatre. Additional teachers, actors and Kingsmen Shakespeare Company members will also make up the staff.
Two-week morning and afternoon sessions begin June 16 and continue through Aug. 1. Classes will be held in the CLU Theatre Arts Building and adjoining spaces.
The Kingsmen Shakespeare Company, the professional theater company of CLU, presents the annual Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival each summer, coordinates apprentice programs for professional and aspiring Shakespearean actors, and provides an educational tour program in local schools.
For more information, visit www.kingsmenshakespeare.org, call 805-493-3452. Registration is available online.
Shakespeare in LA 