Aeration - Carolina Weekly Newspapers

Arts & EntErtAinmEnt
From table to stage, Connie Company’s “dream”
by Ann Fletcher
AandE@huntersvilleherald.com
DAVIDSON – For 14 years, The Connie
Company, the youth programming
arm of Davidson Community Players,
has produced dozens of children’s stage
productions. But two years after moving
into its Armour Street Theatre home and
expanding programming to include yearround
classes, the troupe sought a different
teaching platform.
“Little by little, we’ve been expanding
and trying different things in our effort to
find what’s going to resonate with people,
what’s going to fit into youth’s schedules,”
Artistic Director Melissa Ohlman-Roberge
said.
They sought creative ways to balance
kids’ desire to perform with The Connie
Company’s goal to teach the essentials of
acting.
“Producing plays is not necessarily the
best way to train young actors,” Ohlman-
Roberge said. Although plays give young
actors experience, educational time is limited
by the production process because a
director’s responsibility is to put out the
best possible production, while a theatre
educator’s responsibility is to give each
actor what they need at the level they need
it.
Courtesy of Lisa Brueggeman
Director Wrenn Goodrum works with child actors during The
Connie Company’s “Shakespeare Unplugged” workshop, which
culminates in a free production of “A Midsummer Night’s
Dream” Oct. 22-24 at Davidson’s Armour Street Theatre.
“The two experiences are sometimes at
cross-purposes,” she said.
To address both, they’ve begun “Shakespeare
Unplugged,” an intensive workshop
led by veteran actor/director Wrenn Goodrum
who founded and served as artistic
director of All Children’s Theatre in Rhode
Island for 22 years before moving to the
Lake Norman area.
The workshop culminates in free public
performances of a multi-media version
of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s
Dream,” and encompasses
more in-depth study and
behind-the-scenes work
than is usually expected of
young actors.
The workshop involves
13 students, grades 6-12,
who meet three days per
week, August through
October, and are divided
up into various committees,
so they not only act,
but also serve on teams
from technical to props,
tackling “both sides” of
play production.
More importantly, they
expand their knowledge of
Shakespeare beyond the
study of a book.
“They’ve been learning about the genre,
the language, and spending the first three
weeks ‘at the table,’” Ohlman-Roberge
said.
“Table work,” the first phase of putting
together a play, is the time when casts
gather to analyze the script, study the characters,
their interactions and focus on the
printed word. Actors try to find the meaning
behind the script before they venture
on stage to incorporate blocking, choreography,
and all other elements of stage
Want to go?
The Connie Company presents free
performances of “Shakespeare Unplugged:
A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
at Armour Street Theatre, 307 Armour
Street, Davidson, Oct. 22 and 23 at 7
pm and Oct. 24 at 2 pm. Ideal for ages
10 and up. Donations welcome at the
door to benefit future Connie Company
Programming.
performance, Ohlman-Roberge said.
“(Goodrum) does a tremendous amount
of table work at the start of this process
through which she endeavors to teach
them more about Shakespeare’s work and
the genre of performing Shakespeare,” she
said.
The result will be a modernized version
of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s
Dream, the comedy of four young lovers,
a group of amateur actors, and the fairies
that manipulate them all. Goodrum’s
modernized version is a play within a play,
through which actors produce a YouTube
video of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,”
which is presented in the original Shakespearean
version.
“It’s very challenging,” Ohlman-Roberge
said. “These are kids have never acted
Shakespeare before. They’re doing a great
job with it.” q
HELLO AGAIN!
COME CELEBRATE
THE GRAND
OPENING OF OUR
NEW LOCATION
OCTOBER 4TH!
12 Noon-1pm
Page 42 • The Herald Weekly • Oct. 1-7, 2010
9755-B Sam Furr Rd
(NorthCross Shopping Center)
Huntersville, NC 28078
704.892.9020
don’t let opportunity slip away
For Comfort Tonight, Call Air Today
Heating, Air Conditioning & Electrical
taX Credits For
HiGH eFFiCienCy
HeatinG & air
ConditioninG
eQuipMent will
eXpire in 2010!
AdditionAl SAvingS For 2010:
• Factory rebates have been
extended by Lennox, Carrier
& York
• Energy rebates available from
our local utilities
• R-22 (Freon) equipment and
repairs are becoming more costly
• Energy Efficient new equipment
will save you money!
Let one of our comfort advisors assess your heating
and cooling equipment at no charge or obligation.
We also give competitive quotes.
Visit our website at:
www.MyAirToday.com
Or, call us for more details
704.553.9884 Locally owned and operated
NC ELECTRICAL LIC# 15729 NC MEChANICAL LIC# 29332
www.huntersvilleherald.com