Elm Shakespeare Summer Camps Move Online

Elm Shakespeare Company recently announced the launch of online summer camps, for youth ages 7-12 and 13-18. In response to the success of its online residencies this Spring, ESC has been working with teaching artists across the country to re-design existing camp programs into engaging, creative, and fun online activities for our campers!

"One of my favorite things about theatre is how scrappy artists are: we are experts in creative problem-solving" says Bridget McCarthy, ESC's Camp Manager. "When the team was presented with creating a fun, interactive, and engaging camp experience that could be delivered online, they leaped into action!" McCarthy has been developing the online program with ESC's Education Program Manager, Sarah Bowles.

Bowles has been running Zoom rehearsals with all ESC's Spring residencies and has had great success keeping students excited and active, "We have fun. We mess up... We learn and keep growing together as artists and as an ensemble" said Bowles about her experience bringing ESC's Teen Troupe into the online platform.

Teen Camp, for teens age 13-18, immerses each camper into a challenging, creative environment working with theater professionals. In this new format campers will receive two private coaching sessions each week via Zoom with two ESC artists: Ben Curns and Sarah Bowles. Curns appeared last summer in Elm's The Comedy of Errors, as Dromio of Ephesus. Bowles appeared in 2017 on stage for Elm's Love's Labours Lost.

Three unique sessions of Player's Camp offer campers age 7-12 a chance to explore the world of Shakespeare in a two-week program, Monday-Friday 9:00-1:00. Each session culminates with a Shakespeare performance, created with the ideas of each camper. "I am so excited to see the new kinds of games and art we make with our campers," says McCarthy, "campers, family, and staff alike will be exploring this "brave new world" together and I couldn't be more excited."

In response to community need, based on availability, camps will be offered free to families of essential workers or those who are unemployed as spaces remain available.

For more information on Elm Shakespeare's Teen Camp, visit https://www.elmshakespeare.org/teen-camp.