CHILDREN'S
PROGRAMS
Summer Shenanigans 2008
Visual and Performing Arts Camp at Johnson Hall
Download 2008 Summer Shenanigans Registration From Here! (PDF)
Summer 2008 Schedule.
Children going into grades:
Grades K-1: Session I, June 23-27, 9am-noon
Grades 2-4: Session II, July 7-11, 9am -4pm
Grades 3-5: Session III, July 14-18 9am-4pm
Grades 5-8: Session IV, July 21-25 9am-4pm
Summer Shenanigans is an unusual theater and art camp, because kids create and perform a play, from A to Z, based on their own ideas. ANYTHING can happen when they create a play! At the beginning of the week, they decide what character they want to be, and they develop the locations and plot as a group. They learn how to make the audience believe they're someone else: travelers from another country, a flying asteroid, a slippery shadow or maybe a giant grasshopper! They learn stage directions and acting techniques, and they make their own props, costumes, and sets. At the end of the week, campers' family and friends come and watch the performance, which is sure to be fun
and amazing!
Summer Shenanigans Visual and Performing Arts Day Camp incorporates both the visual and the performing arts. Our staff is made up of artists and performers experienced in teaching children of all ages. Our goal is to provide developmentally- appropriate, stimulating artistic experiences that are FUN!
Performing Arts instruction will incorporate character building, improvisation, creative movement and story-telling skills. Visual arts instruction will include a variety of possible media, ranging from painting through clay sculpture, fiber art, print or mask making, simple set and props construction.
What is a week at Summer Shenanigans like? Campers spend their time with a minimum of two adult staff members and one teen intern at all times. On the first morning of each session, the Performing Arts Instructors will use structured, age-appropriate activities to help the campers use their imagination to develop a story they can tell together through performance. The Visual Arts Instructors will join the group during the morning to help decide which media and activities will match the play that has been born.
From then on, instructors and campers will spend half of each day on performing arts, half on visual arts. On Friday, they present a show for parents and also have artwork to take home. Campers need to provide their own bag lunches for sessions II, III, and IV and a snack for Session I. To get some fresh air, campers spend time outside in the mini-park next to Johnson Hall, and also occasionally go to the Common or the riverfront. They visit the Gardiner Public Library to learn how to use the library and to get resources for developing their characters and ideas for sets and costumes.
STAFF
Kathleen Nation, Theater Director Session III and IV
Kathleen trained at USM, Roehampton Institute in London, New Playwright's Theater in Denver and Orange Coast College in California. She has directed both Winter and Summer Shenanigans for several years, and Johnson Hall's Teen-Elementary School Shows (TESS) after-school program. She is a performing arts instructor for Augusta Adult Ed and Monmouth Middle School. She is also the Artistic Director for Monmouth Community Theater and directs the Olios of Cony's Chizzle Wizzle.
Yana Suponitskaya, Art Director
Yana teaches art classes for young people privately. In Russia, she worked at Big Drama Theater in St. Petersburg as both set painter/prop maker and poster designer. Yana came to Maine in 1992 and has been the art director for both Winter and Summer Shenanigans for several years. Yana also works with Johnson Hall's after-school theater and art programs, TESS and the Greater Gardiner Area Boys & Girls Club. She has painted backdrops for Monmouth Community Theater.
Iona McCabe, Theater Director, Session I and II
Iona has studied theater and dance in New York City and at USM. She spent a year touring and directing with the Missoula Children's Theater, has conducted Creative Movement Classes at Johnson Hall, and has been directing Shenanigans camps here since 1998.
Winter Shenanigans 2008
Visual and Performing Arts Camp at Johnson Hall
The popular Shenanigans Theater Arts day camp held at Johnson Hall Performing Arts Center has long been a favorite of talented youngsters who use their creative juices to express a character, build sets, make props, and perform a short play on the final day of camp. Winter Shenanigans camps run for three days over the winter school vacation in February, Tuesday to Thursday from 9:30am to 4pm with a performance for families at 3:30pm Thursday. Because of the shortness of the session, Winter Shenanigans uses a scripted play. (For writing and developing their own play, campers come to Summer Shenanigans.)
Kids in grades 3-8 can join Kathleen Nation, Theater Director, and Yana Suponitskaya, Art Director.
Winter Shenanigans is sponsored by Staples Funeral Services.
2005 theme:"A Visit With Shakespeare."
2006 theme: "Greek Salad--Myths, Masks & Merriment."
2007 theme:“Wicked Far Off-Broadway— Maine Folks, Folk Tales and Tall Tales”
2008 theme: "Winter Shenanigans Goes Green"
Kathleen Nation, Theater Director
Kathleen trained at USM, Roehampton Institute in London, New Playwright's Theater in Denver and Orange Coast College in California. She has directed both Winter and Summer Shenanigans for several years, and Johnson Hall's Teen-Elementary School Shows (TESS) after-school program. Kathleen in the drama coach for Mommouth Middle School. She served as the Artistic Director for Monmouth Community theater and directs the Olios of Cony's Chizzle Wizzle.
Yana Suponitskaya, Art Director
Yana is a Gardiner based, multi-media artist who also does work in ceramic sculpture. Yana came to Maine in 1992 from in St. Petersburg Russia. Yana has been an Art Director at Johnson Hall Performing Arts Center for nine years.
She works with both Winter and Summer Shenanigans, and Johnson Hall's
after-school theater and art programs, TESS.
Teen-Elementary School Shows (TESS)
TESS 2008 theme: "TESS Goes Green"
In TESS, Johnson Hall Performing Arts Center hires professional theater and art directors to supervise the after-school program, and teenagers who are accomplished in theater and art to conduct it. The program works on several levels—as a learning experience for teenagers and for elementary students, and to introduce school communities to live theater. The adult theater director works with the theater teens to choose a subject and to write several short plays. The themes over the eight years of the program have ranged from Aesop’s Fables and Winnie the Pooh, to the books of a local author and Greek myths. In 2007, the theme was Wicked Far Off-Broadway: Maine Stories.
Our professional director helps the teens write appropriate plays for the developmental level of the elementary students who will be performing. Johnson Hall staff work closely with the school administration and teachers to educate them about the program and contract with each school. Then JH staff distributes information and registration forms in the schools for the free program. The professional art director and several teens make a lively sign-up poster for the school bulletin board, and visit classes to promote interest in signing up. Students are accepted as theater or art students on a first-come, first-served basis. When the after-school program begins, teens lead the elementary students in theater exercises, decide who to cast in each play, rehearse and produce the plays. The art students, with teen directors supervising, create props, backdrops, and costumes. (The adults are always available for assistance.) The sessions are two weeks in duration at each participating school. Finally, they present the finished plays to each school population at an afternoon show, and to the parents and community at an evening show the same day.
TESS provides a live theater and creative art experience to elementary students and their proud parents. A lot of learning is woven into the fun and humor of the plays— about literature, performance, creativity, art, the children’s own abilities, and about how important each of them is to the whole. Many programs feature adults conducting theater or music in the schools. But the special magic of TESS is the key role of the teens.
This year, we are presenting the TESS program at three schools: Helen Thompson in West Gardiner; River View in South Gardiner; Monmouth Middle School, and we are seeking a 4th school. The first session begins on March 20, and the sessions will end on May 31, 2008.
Benefits of TESS:
1. Helps schools meet the Maine Learning Results performing arts and public speaking requirements.
2. Since TESS plays are based on literature, it encourages students to read books, and increases their interest in literature.
3. Offers a live theater experience in elementary schools, which rarely have theater programs.
4. Offers an art experience to those who may not want to appear on stage.
5. The teens also learn-- theater techniques and terms, time management, flexibility, how to work with a group of lively children, and leadership skills. The program encourages creativity and initiative among teens, and gives them job experience.
6. TESS provides a fun and creative after-school activity during the hours when many children and teens are unsupervised at home.
7. Brings children and teens together for a positive, creative experience. The young people see the teens as good role models.
TESS is offered free to participating students, because it is funded by $5,000 from the Helen & George Ladd Charitable Corporation and $500 from each School PTA.
