A popular summer activity for kids and teens each year are the Summer Theatre Camps held at the Souris Valley Theatre. The sessions are being held over the month of July, with camps for different age groups.
“Our first group here is six to eight years old, our second group is nine to 12, our third group is 10 to 16 and then our last group is an improv group, which is six to 16,” said Ciara Dayman, one of the camp counsellors. She and her fellow counsellor, Brayden Renkas, have been teaching the camps for the past two weeks.
Right outside the Souris Valley Theatre, Dayman and Renkas have been teaching and instructing kids on the basics of acting and theatre. Both veterans of the craft themselves, they took this opportunity to share their skills with the younger generation.
“We’re the camp counsellors, the teachers or whatever you call the people in charge,” Renkas laughs.
They are hosting different age groups for different weeks, and their first one is already finished, which ran from July 5-9. The second one goes from July 12-16 and the third camp will be from July 19-30. Their improv group will run from Aug. 2-6.
“So our six to eight camp is already done, and nine to 12 year olds are this week, and 10-16-year olds for the next week, and for the final week it’s anybody from the age of six to sixteen,” Dayman elaborates. “All of our camp dates and camp times are on our website, sourisvalleytheater.ca.”
“But the first camp is finished now, but the third camp and the improv camp are still available for sign up,” Renkas adds. Kids must be registered for camps in order to join, they cannot drop in.
“You can register online at sourisvalleytheater.ca. But yeah, if you register online, and as long as you’re registered the day before your camp starts, then you can totally join in,” Dayman says.
“Anybody can come and sign up for the improv group. It’s our newest camp as well,” Renkas adds. While restrictions have lifted, before July 11, they had to accommodate for the pandemic protocols.
“It’s all outside. We’re all outside, every day,” Renkas said. “Everything is outside, in fact, the kids aren’t even allowed in the Souris Valley Theatre. Usually when they need to sit inside, they go into the office next to the concession.”
“We have a tent that got set up by Woodlawn Regional Park. They set it up for us, so we’ve got a nice big 20 by 16-foot tent that we get to perform in.” Dayman says.
For performances, they have a stage at the end of the tent for the kids to perform on.
“We’ve got a little stage, basically a big block that they can stand on,” Renkas adds.
“Basically what we do is we play a bunch of acting games with the kids, and for these first two groups, Brayden and I write little plays and skits for them to perform for their parents at the end of the week, and for the older kids that are 10-16, Maureen Ulrich, who’s an author, writes a play for us every year … and the kids in the two-week long camp get to perform it for their parents at the end,” Dayman says of their process, and the small production at the end of the week.
Both directors praised the kids' improvement over such a short time span, and have high hopes for the production.
“They’ve been learning and reading their lines, I’m impressed with some of them. Even the ones who can’t read are beginning to remember what falls where.” Renkas says.
“Between the first day and today, it’s night and day. It’s absolutely insane.” Dayman adds. “They’re memorizing their lines, they know blocking, they know how to project all their words, they’re doing such a great job. So come on out, sign your kids up, it’s tonnes of fun,” she says.
“And we’re very nice people.” Renkas laughs. “We love working here and we love working with children. It’s just a good thing to come out and try.”
“It’s lots of fun, all of our kids here are having tonnes of fun, and it’s a great way to get your kid interested in theater, and to further their interest, if they show that they want to do anything,” Dayman finishes. “A great opportunity for anybody. Whether you think you’re going to be interested in acting or not, there’s a spot for everybody.”
