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Theatre and Acting Camp Programs
Our Theatre Camps include acting programs that cover a wide range of styles and skills, from Stage Combat to Clown, Collective Creation to Scene Study, Shakespeare to Movie Acting, and we offer programs geared to all levels, from beginner to advanced. At Centauri, campers choose one specialty arts program per session. To see a chart listing all the programs and their sessions click here.
Acting:
From the Screen, to the Stage!
Session 1 - A (ages 9-14) Instructor: Mladen Obradovic
In this theatre program - returning by popular demand - we
take everything we love about movies, and use these things
to inspire our work as actors on the stage. Imagine creating
your own action sequence to the soundtrack of The Matrix,
taking a few lines of dialogue from Batman and improvising
the rest, or staging a car chase from The Italian Job, live
for an audience! Try taking special effects from
Ghostbusters or Jaws and evolving them into something that
works on stage, or plucking characters from a Harry Potter
movie, to interpret them for yourself. We’ll grow as actors
while we create, working on voice technique, movement and
character development, and discover what tricks may be used
by a stage director, to help an audience suspend disbelief.
Using our interest in the movies as a unique starting point,
we’ll create a stage performance that will be the envy of
our friends on the final day.
Since all new movies and activities are used, campers who
enjoyed this program last year may take it again!
An
Actor's Performance Tour!
Session 1 - A (ages 9-14) Instructor: Heather Bernknopf
After a critically-acclaimed summer season, the Local Performance Tour is back! Imagine working on a show, bonding with your fellow actors, developing teamwork and leadership skills, deepening your love of theatre, and then touring your show to an outside audience - all in only 14 days. If you have previous theatre experience, and you are looking for an exhilarating and intense challenge, this program is right for you. Campers will be given a script early in the program and will delve into mounting a show right away. Unlike programs designed solely to build skills, the emphasis will be on the final performance. As a collective of actors, we will mount an exciting show that will be toured to an audience off camp.
The Art of Clown
Session 1 - O (ages 13-18) Instructor: Jordi Hepburn
No actor's repertoire is complete without exploring both Mask and Clown. Mask and Clown offer us a means to explore our subconscious, develop intuition and celebrate our originality. Great acting is about truthfulness and sincerity and these skills are the key. As you discover the method of Jacques LeCoq, you will learn more about your body and your imaginative skills through playfulness and fun! This program uses yoga, creative movement, serious and comedic improv. and a host of crazy activities to help you develop further as a performer. Discovering clown and mask is not only PURE JOY but also a route to artistic and personal transformation. All campers in this program participate in a clown show on the final day of the session. Campers must have had some previous acting experience in order to participate in Clown.
Play Writing & Performance
Session 1 - O (ages 14-18) , Instructor: Glenn Clifton
Set yourself the ultimate creative challenge as you join a dynamic team to write, direct, rehearse and stage a production! Design your own characters, develop play writing skills, create monologues, dialogues, scenes and even some performance poetry, and learn how to write in specific performance styles - surrealism, absurdism and more! In the second half of this fast-paced and exciting program, join with your friends, and pull together your favourite characters and your best ideas into a single, coherent play! Discover more about theatre from two perspectives - by writing, and by performing. By the end of the session, you will have not only a collaborative performance piece to show for your work, but a notebook of scenes, ideas and writing prompts to inspire further creative writing once the summer is over. Using the creative resources of your group, what can you create? Find out, as you send your imagination on a roller coaster ride!
Acting: From Page to Stage
Session 2 - A (ages 9-14) Instructor: Adrianne Gagnon
Actors in this program will have the opportunity to workshop an original script created especially for them! We’ll begin by exploring what makes good acting - and our practical journey will include workshops in voice, movement, improv, comedy, character and text analysis. Then, we’ll meet our script! Working alongside the playwright, we’ll examine what makes a play work. We’ll explore the opening, analyze characters, look for the conflict, dissect the climax and stand the play on its feet! Campers will each be assigned a character to develop, and we’ll also experiment with theatrical techniques such as mask, choral work, sound and movement. If what you’re looking for is a chance to grow as a performer and to act in a play on stage, look no further! Our goal, in the second half of the program, is to put our performance skills to the test, as we work together as an ensemble to mount an exciting and entertaining production for our audience on the final day!
Acting and Directing for the Stage
Session 2 - (ages 13-18) Instructor: Brittany Knight
What do directors do, and how do they get what they want from their actors? How does an actor work successfully with a director? This exciting new program gives you the chance to experience theatre from two different perspectives: as an actor, and as a director! Campers will work with a variety of challenging scenes, from the sixteenth century to the present day. Experience firsthand the thrill of seeing your vision come alive on stage as you work as a theatre director with your own cast. Develop the skills needed to be a strong director, learning how to give constructive advice to actors... then rediscover what it feels like from the other side, as you act in another director’s cast. By acting and directing in one program, you get to compare the two theatrical roles, and discover how one compliments the other. Along the way, you will improve your acting skills and discover how a director makes a scene live on the stage. Campers have the opportunity to showcase their work in front of an invited audience on the final day of the session.
Acting: Revolution! Revolution!
Session 2 - O (ages 14-18) Instructor: Mladen Obradovic
(Note: This program will combine with the Stage Combat group of the same name to create a spectacular extended final show!)Step into the turbulent world of the French Revolution, and create characters whose destinies were determined by one of the most catastrophic social upheavals the world has ever seen! "If they have no bread then let them eat cake," Marie Antoinette said... or did she? Were the rich as cruel as the history books suggest? Were the poor justified in seeking such brutal revenge? Did justice prevail in the end? One of the most horrific of history's lessons promises an acting experience that is exciting, challenging and unlike any other! Join us as we enact this epic story, exploring colourful characters and learning more about ourselves as actors. No knowledge of history is required! This program is the first ever theatre/stage combat collaboration at Centauri; actors who choose the theatre component will have an opportunity to learn stage combat skills, too, if they wish. Although we will definitely work on acting skills, the emphasis is on rehearsal as the two departments collaborate on an extended final show. Storm the Bastille with us this summer and take your performance skills to new levels, as we create our action packed show: Revolution! Revolution!
Acting: Theatre MadLibs!
Session 3 - A (ages 9-14) Instructor: Daniel Poulin
Campers in this exciting new theatre program will receive a terrific script... with pieces missing! Your job will be to find out all you can about the characters, the style and the playwright’s objectives... then fill in the blanks! Why? To discover what makes great theatre tick! We’ll use our imaginations and work together to turn our incomplete masterpiece into a magnificent show ready for performance day. We'll bring our story to life using improv, exciting theatre techniques and even music - while exploring the movements and voices of our characters. The emphasis of this program is on helping you to become a better actor, and to discover what goes into making a top notch show. If you like MadLibs and you love acting, this is the program for you!
Acting:
Theatre Outside The Box
Session 3 - O (ages 14-18) Instructor: Jeanette Hedley
Join this exciting performance group, where we’ll learn all the rules . . . then break them! Working as an ensemble, campers become better actors by taking workshops in voice, movement, improvisation and character development. We’ll explore our ideas about theatre, inspire one another, then work to create original text using improv and writing prompts. But do you think we’ll use all of this to put on a traditional play before a sit-down audience in a theatre? THINK AGAIN! Our goal is to use all the creativity at our disposal to stun, surprise and shock our audience with a performance the like of which no one has seen before! Imagine doing a scene in the dark with your face lit by flashlight, delivering a monologue from the branches of a tree, or guiding your audience between multiple performance pieces across camp . . . anything is possible when theatre artists take risks and experiment! So join us for this exciting new program; improve your acting skills then create a unique presentation as you prepare to think and act outside the box!
Stage
Combat: Shakespeare Up in Arms
Session 3 ( ages 13-18) Instructor: Ian Walsh (with a guest appearance by Hunter Gates!)
Do battle with the bard as you bring some of his most exciting combat scenes to life! Discover the art of basic combat skills such as prat falls, punches, slaps and body parries, then move on to found weapon, quarterstaffe, rapier and broadsword. In our final show, we will use a combination of all of these things, as we create the visual scenes implied in the vague stage directions of Shakespeare’s plays. What does ‘they fight’ truly mean? Discover how your comedic combat can make an audience explode with laughter in such plays as The Taming of the Shrew and Much Ado About Nothing. Keep them on the edge of their seats as Romeo, as you sink your rapier into Tybalt. Restage battles of the ancient world as you wield your broadsword in Troilus and Cressida. No previous knowledge of Shakespeare is necessary! This program is a wide-ranging journey through armed and non-armed combat, with the Bard as our companion. Join us this summer, discover the skills of the actor-combatant, and create a visually stunning final show, to ‘wow’ your audience on the final day.
This program is appropriate for campers with stage combat experience, as well as beginners who have previous experience of art forms that help develop balance, focus and physical dexterity - such as dance, gymnastics, figure skating or martial arts.
Improvisation for Actors
Session 4 - A (ages 9-14) Instructor: Alanna Balicki
Discover why Improvisation is a vital acting skill in this fast-paced performance program! Learn how to become spontaneous and truthful on stage, working in a team with your fellow-improvisors. Create dozens of original characters using masks, props and costume, and learn how to be so funny, you’ll have your audience rolling in the aisles! We’ll say YES! to every suggestion, think on our feet, and take our imaginations to new heights. We’ll discover how to create and resolve conflict, react to your scene partners, and heighten the absurd as we create masses of mayhem, and take part in classic improv games. If you love improvisation, or you’d like to discover how to be funnier on stage, look no further! Be prepared to cause a scene and get noticed, as you experience improv like never before!
The Art of Performance
Session 4 - (ages 13-18) Instructor: Daniel Poulin
Step outside yourself and into an exciting exploration of theatre and performance! What makes great acting? How do you become a better performer? We’ll ask ourselves these questions, and participate in practical workshops that help us develop the skills we need to grow as performers. We'll discover what it means to be part of a theatre ensemble, learning to trust our fellow actors, and working on skills such as voice, movement and character. Then, as we build our show for the final day, we’ll explore the limitless possibilities of theatre by examining the work of artists who refuse to be bound by traditional rules! How can we use theatre to communicate effectively? Is it possible to do new and exciting things with the actor/audience relationship, such as involving an audience directly in our show? How can we create fresh performance pieces that are meaningful to us, and to others? Become a better actor, shake up your ideas of theatre, and create a unique performance to share with your unsuspecting audience on the final day.
Acting in Film
Session 4 - O (ages 14-18) Instructor: Valerie Buhagiar
This scene study-based program is for all omega campers who have an interest in acting, and some previous experience. You will learn to be spontaneous, focused and alive in your performances by immersing yourself in scenes taken from existing screenplays. Free from the distractions of the camera, and the slow pace of a film shoot, you will launch yourself into an emotional journey, discovering more about acting for film, and unlocking the actor inside you. Since all actors work in pairs or groups of three, everyone gets to experience lead roles. Learn different rehearsal techniques that will help you with memorization and building a scene in the short preparation period typical of the film industry. Discover how to work with a partner, develop characters effectively and unlock the secrets of a screenplay as we rehearse a live presentation of our scenes for all to see. Since different scenes are used each year, campers who have taken this program before are welcome to do so again.
Words in Action: POP Theatre!
Session 4 - O (14-18) Instructor: Darwin Lyons-Fisher
Actors in this theatre and writing program will explore different aspects of current pop culture - from cult YouTube videos, to contemporary movies and music, and even the revival of interest in all things vampire! Do you follow trends, or consciously reject them? Do the pressures of pop culture encourage conformity and shape the way we think? We’ll use our opinions and ideas as the starting point for a unique piece of original theatre. Imagine using the themes of a recent blockbuster movie as a springboard for your own writing and performance. Or working with other actors to create a movement and mask piece in response to contemporary music you hate! Create your own ‘fashion show’ to reflect your opinion of recent clothing trends, or take a look at Facebook, and try to represent it live, on stage. We’ll uncover the secrets of theatre practitioners who encouraged satire and social comment, and try out new techniques in our acting, writing, movement and directing. We’re looking for experienced actors, writers and other creators who LOVE or LOATHE popular culture. Feel you have something to share? Want to say it OUT LOUD, on stage? Then join our ‘Words in Action’ ensemble this summer! We’ll use our passions for writing and acting to challenge, irritate and amuse our audience - as we look for entertaining ways to share our impressions of the popular trends that shape our world.