 In June Summer Performance Intensive with Ki Gottberg June 17th, 18th, 24th & 25th 10:00 AM – 1:30 PM For students in 8th grade and above, adults welcome! Working with theater professional and The Merc’s Artistic Director Ki Gottberg, students will learn specific techniques in acting, stagecraft, voice, and movement in this four-day workshop. With a strong focus on preparing the body and the voice for stage work, participants will learn how an actor uses body and mind as an instrument to bring out meaning in text. Workshop sessions will provide an exploration into the craft of acting and will also develop life skills such as ensemble building, self-confidence, and public speaking. Focus on the process rather than the end product will be emphasized. This intensive workshop is designed to compliment summer working schedules by spanning two weekends for three and a half hours each day. This valuable educational experience is for actors, teachers, lawyers, leaders, or those that want to be. Students in 8th grade and above will learn critical skills, not just for onstage, but for life! Adults are encouraged to participate. Cost is $250. A $75, non-refundable deposit is due at registration. To register, call 997-7529 or email . Partial scholarships are available. Download registration form here: 
 In August Musical Theater Camp with Megan Hicks & Kathryn Stahl August 7 - 11 10 AM - 4 PM Musical Theater Camp is for ages 8 and up. The Merc Playhouse is pleased to bring back Megan Hicks and Kathryn Stahl for Musical Theater Camp! Young actors improve their singing, dancing, and acting skills while being a part of a musical theater production. Campers all get a part in Magic Tree House Collections’s Pirates Past Noon, Kids which will be performed for audiences twice at the end of the week. Friday, Aug 11th at 4:00 and Saturday, Aug 12th at 2:00 we invite friends, family, and the public to come see the show. Admission to this special performance is by donation. No previous theater experience is necessary. Campers should dress comfortably and pack a sack lunch, snacks, and a water bottle. Cost is $250. A $75, non-refundable deposit is due at registration. To register, call 997-7529 or email . Partial scholarships are available. Download registration form here:
 Where is stage right? What direction do you go to get down stage? How does a designer create a set for a show? What is casting and how do directors do it? How can dance enhance a theater performance? What makes Reader's Theater different?
Methow Valley Elementary students in the after school Cub Club program will have the opportunity to explore all of these questions, and much more, throughout the 2016-2017 school year. The Merc is super excited to have about fifteen students in grades three through six registered for this Children's Theater program that will focus on skills like character development, set design, mask-making, dance, reader's theater, stage blocking and many other elements of theater performance. With the generous help of volunteers, we have a variety of sessions planned for each Tuesday after school. We are calling it The Merc Playhouse Cubs. As part of the program, senior Liberty Bell High School student Bryce Tillman will be leading some of the sessions for work on his Senior Project - making this a partnership that spans into the high school as well. Bryce will call on his own experience acting onstage (you may have seen his excellent performance in Footloose in the spring LBHS show) to teach the younger students theater skills and also learn about theater leadership and teaching methods himself. We are thrilled to have him on board! After providing a six-week dance session last year, this is the first time The Merc has worked with Cub Club to provide an entire year of programming and we are looking forward to it! It's wonderful to have this extra opportunity to teach students the necessary skills for stage production and performance. If you are interested in volunteering to help with any of the sessions - it doesn't matter how many. Step in for one week, or help with a series of sessions. Have an idea for leading a session? By all means! We do have room in the calendar for additional volunteers and would love your help. Contact Missi at 509.997.7529 or email her with your idea for a session and/or available dates. All volunteers need the necessary background check paperwork on file at the district office.  Working with Seattle actor Kate Wisniewski (Intiman, Seattle Shakespeare, Book It, The Merc, teacher of acting and voice at Seattle U, Freehold) students will learn specific techniques in acting and stagecraft, improvisation, voice and movement. Concentrating on the texts of Shakespeare and other great poets, the camp will provide an exploration into the craft of acting and will also develop life skills such as ensemble building, self-confidence, and public speaking. Focus on the process rather than the end product will be emphasized and the camp will encourage fun, commitment, discipline, and risk-taking within a safe environment. The workshop will culminate in shared experiences for an invited audience of family and friends. During this week-long camp, students will have an opportunity to: • Learn the basic building blocks of acting • Enhance concentration and sensory awareness • Build confidence • Develop movement and vocal skills • Learn tools to overcome fear of public speaking and performance • Begin an appreciation of language and heightened text ARTIST BIO: Kate Wisniewski is a professional actor, and an acting instructor at Seattle University where she teaches acting and vocal production for actors. Merc audiences may have seen her as Maria in Ki Gottberg’s production of Twelfth Night, in Madcap Melodrama’s audio play The Vampire or the Bride of the Isles, and most recently as Hecuba in the Seattle University touring production of Women of Troy. Kate has appeared in Seattle area theatre at Seattle Shakespeare Festival, Intiman, ACT, Book-It Repertory Theatre, Empty Space, Tacoma Actors Guild, New Century Theatre and New City Theatre among others. She is a founding member of upstart crow, an all-female Shakespeare Company that has produced critically acclaimed productions of Titus Andronicus and King John. Her co-adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry VI plays, entitled Bring Down the House, will be co-produced by upstart crow and Seattle Shakespeare Festival in early 2017. Kate is a graduate of the American Repertory Theatre Institute at Harvard. She has been a faculty member of Freehold Studio Theatre Lab and is also a professional voice over artist. This camp is for any level of experience, beginning to advanced, and will be tailored to each individual’s need and ability. The instructor, Kate Wisniewski, has been a working actor for 20 plus years, and has taught many levels of workshops and classes. She is an MFA graduate of American Repertory Theatre Institute at Harvard. This 30+-hour camp will include instruction in acting and stagecraft, improvisation, voice and movement, and will concentrate on the texts of Shakespeare and other poets. The camp will provide exploration into the craft of acting and will also develop valuable life skills such as ensemble building, self-confidence, and public speaking. There will be focus on exercises that help to develop an awareness of moment-to moment work, truthful behavior on stage, accessing and using the imagination, character movement, character voice, stage craft, taking direction, and making active choices. We will be working with texts by poets and writers including: Shakespeare, Dr. Seuss, Lewis Carroll, William Blake and Robert Browning among others. Cost is $275. A $75, non-refundable deposit is due at registration. Upload a registration form here. Call 509.997.7529 for more information or email Missi. 
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