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Local Voices

Exciting Performance Opportunity for High School Students

Taking risks, challenging artists to do their best work, tackling new musicals and acclaimed plays, and working on complex subject matter are not concepts that are always associated with theatre programs for kids. However, Stoneham Theatre's young company is known for exactly those things. In particular, the act 3 program for students in grades 10-12 attracts many of its students because it gives them the opportunity to perform in shows they might not be able to do at their own school or in other extracurricular programs. Stoneham Theatre's act 3 students have performed in shows such as columbinus (recently seen at ArtsEmerson in Boston), the new musical Winesburg, Ohio, an original adaptation of Grimm’s The Handless Maiden, and the challenging LaChiusa musical Bernarda Alba. And that's just within the past four years. “Teen actors are fearless and especially unafraid of asking big questions. We want to challenge them with both the subjects our productions tackle and the methods through which those subjects are explored,” shared Caitlin Lowans, Director of Education and Associate Artistic Director.

This summer will be no different. act 3 students who participate in the young company Summer Festival 2014 will be cast in one of 3 productions: the hilarious crowdpleaser Monty Python's Spamalot, the second-ever production of the female-centered new musical Picnic at Hanging Rock by Daniel Zaitchik, or the challenging and exciting Mary Zimmerman (The Jungle Book, Metamorphoses) play, Argonautika. Beginning on July 11, 2014, act 3 students will spend 5 weeks rehearsing, and their work will culminate in 3 public performances on Stoneham Theatre's stage, August 15-18, 2014. In addition to rehearsals, all students take 4 workshops throughout the Summer Festival. Stoneham Theatre hires professional artists to teach these workshops. This summer, they are lucky to have such theatre practitioners as Jen Alison Lewis, Sam Richert, Sara Gadowicz, and rLee Adams teaching classes like movement, fight choreography, Shakespeare, Gender in performance, and devised theatre. It is an intensive and rigorous program with professional quality results, but the students also have a great time. “My summer won't be the same not doing this program! I have made so many lifelong friends from these shows, and I am so grateful for the experiences that I've had!” says summer 2012 and 2013 participant Rachel Seeley who is now in college.

Enrollment is ongoing for the young company Summer Festival 2014, and space is still available for students entering grades 10-12 and 2014 high school graduates, as well as students entering grades 1-3. For more information, contact Stoneham Theatre's Education Department at education@stonehamtheatre.org or 781-279-7885 x104, or visit http://www.stonehamtheatre.org/youngcompany/summer.html.

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Through the generosity of Stoneham Theatre donors, scholarships are available on a first come, first-served basis to those families who demonstrate financial need.   Payment plans are also available.

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