SUMMER THEATER WORKSHOP TO BE HELD

The 1998 Children's Summer Theatre workshop will be held July 27 through 31 for children interested in learning acting basics and understanding live theater as an art of communication.

The workshop is sponsored by the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri and will take place in the Kent Library Little Theater at Southeast Missouri State University.

The weeklong workshop will be taught by Laura Leyes, a Southeast graduate and language arts teacher in the Farmington School District. Leyes will cover such topics as voice and articulation, stage movement, character analysis, line readings, scene study and others.

Two three-hour classes will be held each day. Classes for children ages 6 to 11 will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. each day, and children ages 12 to 17 will meet from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The classes will culminate with a performance at 7 p.m. Friday in the Little Theater, where each class will present a dramatic reader's theater production.

Daniel North of the Arts Council said reader's theater is a popular form of high-school production because it includes minimal props and costumes and focuses on "reading with feeling." After developing their acting skills, the students will concentrate on the presentation of their lines and synchronization of their stage movements in short, dramatic works, he said.

"This is our first attempt at reader's theater, and it's been pretty well received so far," he said. "People are surprised at the short amount of time we've allowed ourselves to develop this, but hopefully we can make it work so that it's eligible to more students."

North said each class will present two 30-minute comic productions. The younger students will perform "Tall Tale Tournament," a reader's theater take-off of traditional tall tales, and a short skit titled "Old MacDonald Farm Follies." Older students will perform a short skit titled "Murder on the Orient Express Subway" and a reader's theater work called "On Camera: Noah Webster," a take-off of the story of Daniel Webster.

Each work was selected to give all students a time to shine, said North. "We chose plays that would not give any one character a starring role so that all of the children would have equal stage time," he said.

Students attending the class should dress for mild physical activities and bring a notebook and pen or pencil each day. Enrollment is limited to 15 students per class, but there are many openings still available.

Registration is required for the workshop, and a $50 fee is due no later than July 24.

For more information contact the Arts Council at (573) 334-9233.