Shakespeare camp adds improv workshop

Kingsmen summer theater program enters 33rd year

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This year’s camp will also have a new director — Caitlin Arndt. 

(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – June 7, 2018) The Kingsmen Shakespeare Company Summer Theatre Camp will offer a new twist in its 33rd year — an Improv workshop that provides an alternative to the scripted works of the Bard. 

This year’s camp at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks will also have a new director — Caitlin Arndt. As the daughter of Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival founder Michael Arndt, she grew up on the festival grounds and attended the camp as a child.

In the full-day Improv workshop, Arndt will introduce campers aged 12 to 16 to short- and long-form improvisation as a tool for actors and as an independent entertainment medium. Sessions will include games and will cover comic and serious improvisation and the development of characters and improvisational scenes. Student-devised performances will be presented at the end.

“We wanted to offer an alternative camp that allows children to create art completely on their own through their own improvisations and ideas, script-free,” Arndt said. 

In the full-day Beginning Shakespeare workshop, children aged 8 to 12 will explore Shakespeare’s life and acting styles and apply this knowledge as they work on scenes. Participants will learn textual analysis, vocabulary, stage movement and combat techniques. Training continues for 8- to 16-year-olds with the full-day Advanced Shakespeare workshop, which covers scenes, stage combat and acting techniques in more depth and concludes with the presentation of advanced scenes. 

Musical Theatre for 10- to 16-year-olds will cover vocal technique and auditioning and will culminate in a performance. The half-day camp will meet in the morning.

Arndt earned a bachelor’s degree in performance from Saint Mary’s College of California and also studied at the Atlantic School of Acting in New York, the Lir Academy in Ireland and the Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles. The Thousand Oaks resident has been a teacher and actor with the Kingsmen Shakespeare Educational Tour for the past six years and also worked as a summer camp director and counselor for Lutheran Retreats, Camps & Conferences in California for several years.

Jeff Wallach will teach Musical Theatre. He is an adjunct professor in Cal Lutheran’s Department of Theatre and Dance and the choreographer for the Kingsmen troupe, which is the professional theater company of the university.

The two-week sessions begin June 18 and continue through Aug. 3. 

For more information, visit kingsmenshakespeare.org, call 805-493-3452 or email info@kingsmenshakespeare.org. Registration is available online.

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