Record number of first-time participants for theatre program
Bard In The Yard is an annual summer Shakespeare program for youth.
Some of the participants consider this their summer highlight, coming back year after year to do another classic play with theatre coach Melissa Glover (this is Glover’s fourth year after taking over from founder Debbie McGladdery).
Aspiring thespians like Elizabeth Klassen, Brenna Jacobsen, Meg Peters, Eli Broderick and others have developed into teenaged veterans of the Shakespearean stage. This serves the additional benefit of peer-mentoring the new ones. This year, there were more of those than ever before, with a record enrolment of 22 youngsters.
Among the first-time participants is Muskan Pal, only eight and a half years old. She is a pinball of energy and likes to channel it into acting.
“At my school we did some speech arts and we went to the speech arts festival. I really liked it,” she said. “I think this is my best hobby. I had never been in a play before, so my grandfather in India gifted me a book of Shakespeare. When I was a little kid, I thought Shakespeare was a milkshake and a pear, but when I got the book I became interested in the plays.”
Another newbie is no stranger to theatre at all, but now the experience is all her own. Sofie Mac- Carthy, 11, is the daughter of local television broadcaster Catherine McCarthy who is currently one of the stars of Judy Russell’s production of Mary Poppins. Mom has a long track record of professional and semipro musical theatre.
“I’m in a musical all day long,” said the second-generation performer. “Every morning I hear mom singing in the shower, singing in the bathroom, singing making lunch. She told me ‘my friend Mel is doing a Shakespeare camp, do you want to do that?’ so I did. I did a drama camp last year at UNBC so I wanted to do more. This sounded great.”
Melissa Clemson is only 13, but this is already her second time at Bard In The Yard. She has also done a number of recitals at the annual Speech Arts and Drama Festival and has gotten into a few plays like the Judy Russell production of A Christmas Carol.
“I might use theatre for some career that needs a lot of speaking,” said Clemson, looking ahead to what she wants to me when she grows up. “Maybe I could be an actor, that would be an interesting idea. I don’t know. I haven’t even gotten to high school yet, but I love this and I know I don’t want to sit all day at a computer.”
The language of Shakespeare is quite different from our modern English so that is a challenge to young interpreters of the work, but elicited little more than shrugs from these fresh thespians. No problem.
“The more you do it, the easier it gets to learn,” said Clemson.
When someone said Shakespeare was the theatre world’s MVP, Clemson quipped “yeah, the Most Valuable Playwright.”
This year, Bard In The Yard is offering the participants a special treat Glover has never done before. They get to rehearse and perform two plays instead of the usual one. The Taming Of The Shrew and As You Like It are in the works, with both comedies edited down for time and appropriate content for children.
There are three performances times available: Thursday at 7 p.m., Friday at 2 p.m. and Friday at 7 p.m. all at Theatre North West. Admission is by donation.