We offer a range of children’s programming, including summer and winter arts day camps at Johnson Hall and an after-school program at local schools.

Winter Shenanigans

Visual and Performing Arts Day Camp at Johnson Hall

takes place during winter school vacation week.

 2012 Winter Shenanigans!  Feb. 21, 22, 23

A JOURNEY TO OZ, by Richard Coleman.  A play all in verse, based on the Wizard of Oz story by L. Frank Baum.  Produced by special arrangement with Busy Bee scripts, UK.

Registration brochures are being mailed Jan 17, and are available at Johnson Hall and Winter Shenanigans brochure 12.

Winter Shenanigans is presented each year during February school vacation week.

Winter is different from Summer Shenanigans in one way–the play is scripted, so campers do not invent their own characters. (Winter Shenanigans is only three days, and there’s not enough time to develop a play from scratch.)   In three days campers will be cast, presented their scripts, create the set, rehearse, paint backdrops, rehearse, find colorful costumes, rehearse, and then present their masterpiece to family and friends.   It is fun, fast-paced, challenging, and laced with laughter and hard work. Kids learn theatrical games, art methods, and character development.

Kids in grades 3-8 can join Kathleen Nation, Theater Director, and Laura Howe, Art Director.

STAFF

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 Monmouth Middle School. She served as the Artistic Director for Monmouth Community theater and directs the Olios of Cony’s Chizzle Wizzle.

Laura Howe, Art Director

Laura received her art and education degrees at Maine College of Art and University of Southern Maine. She teaches art at Greene and Leeds Elementary Schools, and has taught art at Camp Vega, Spiral Arts, MECA, and Portland Museum of Art. Laura was Art Director this year for Summer Shenanigans.

Summer Shenanigans

 Visual and Performing Arts Day Camp at Johnson Hall

2012 Tentative Schedule:

June 25-June 29 : Session I, is a half-day, 9 am-noon, for kids entering grades K-1.

July 9-13: Session II, 9 am-4 pm, for kids entering grades 2-4.

July 16-20: Session III, 9 am-4 pm, for kids entering grades 4-6.

July 23-27: Session IV, 9 am-4 pm, for kids entering grades 7-9.

(Registration brochure not yet available.

Teen Job Application, for volunteers or paid staff, click here for 2012:  Teen job app.2011

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 involves 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.

Four sessions are held, for varied age groups.  

 
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.

Tuition is charged for this day camp.

STAFF

Kathleen Nation, Theater Director, Sessions 2-4 and Upstage Youth Company
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.

Laura Howe, Art Director, all sessions
Laura studied at Maine College of Art and received her BFA from University of Southern Maine with a specialty in printmaking. She has taught art at Spiral Arts, Camp Vega, MECA, Portland Museum of Art, and in public schools. Laura has exhibited in community and gallery shows. She is currently an art teacher in MSAD#52, in the Greene and Leeds Schools.

Iona McCabe, Theater Director, Session 1
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.

*********************