Day 1

The first day of camp, July 18, 4pm. Returning campers catch up with their friends while first time campers make new ones. All of the campers waited breathlessly in Stuart Hall’s King Theatre for their first official event at American Shakespeare Center’s Young Company Theatre Camp. Thus begins Session 2, thirty six, sixteen-eighteen gathered to share in three weeks of intense Shakespeare study. These campers who have come from across the country, packed up their clothes and their Complete Works of William Shakespeare and drove or flew to Staunton, VA to put up three one hour productions of some of Shakespeare’s great works. For this session, they are presenting Julius Caesar and breaking Antony and Cleopatra into two parts.

While they wait, some of the girls break out into popular Disney songs and soon the entire theatre is filled with the campers’ voices. Lightly laughing, the lovely camp director, Doreen Bechtol, ASC’s Director of Youth Programs, settles into her place in the circle and asks for quiet so she can start. One of the campers turns to a neighbor and says, “It’s okay; it’s Shakespeare Camp.” Doreen wants to go around the room and have everyone introduce themselves and say a couple of special skills they have. As the students go around the circle, few boast of skills like football and swimming, but many talk about activities such as opera singing, stage combat, dance, and playwrighting. The day ends with a pizza dinner out on the lawn, as the sun slowly begins to set on the first day of camp.

Darielle Shandler