The Souris Valley Theatre’s newest generation of young thespians took to stage to put on a rip-roaring performance, last Friday. Children enrolled in Act 1 of the Musical Theatre Camp For Youth program collaborated and created a brief, but entertaining 10-minute play that showcased their new acting skills, and channeled their own creativity.
The performance, entitled Barnyard Mystery, was a tale of barnyard intrigue and espionage, involving a horse theft, magic potions and a whole lot of high-energy onstage hijinks that had the audience chuckling.
“We worked it into a bit of a mystery play. It was all around awesome, fun-filled and with lots of excitement,” said an upbeat Josh Pelé, after the performance. “They all have their own unique talents, when it comes to acting so they all brought something different to the performance.”
Pelé said that the students brought their own ideas of what they wanted to present onstage together, and the performance that parents saw on July 8 was the synthesis of the variety of different ideas the young students imagined together, as a group.
When asked what her favourite part of the camp was, Ana Pine, one of the many students who participated in the day’s performance said, “That’s a hard question. I think everything was a fun part, for me. I think I am going to come back again, next year.”
Friday’s performance was the culmination of a week of work and rehearsal by the youngsters in the first of three acts of the camp. Kelsey Potoma, a camp instructor for the Theatre Camp program, said the first act of the camp focused on creating characters, how to make a play and how to develop confidence onstage.
According to the Souris Valley Theatre’s website, Act 1, which was open to children ages six to eight, focused on games and activities to get children used to being in a theatre environment, teaching fundamental skills, like how to portray a character, and how to move onstage.
Act 2 will further that knowledge, and is intended for children ages nine to 12. Act 3 is focused on developing an original production entitled Game of Phones.
The performance will be a full hour in length, incorporating all the elements of theatre. The lessons leading up to this performance will also include the technical aspects of theatre, such as lighting and sound design. Students will perform Game of Phones on Aug. 6.
