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Where it's OK for Kids to be Dramatic

In its first year, the Ponoka Drama Camp taught by Lori Kirchner and sponsored by the United Church's Klaglahachie Fine Arts drama group should be a fun mix of learning and activity for kids five to 15 years old.

By Yvonne Dick

In its first year, the Ponoka Drama Camp taught by Lori Kirchner and sponsored by the United Church's Klaglahachie Fine Arts drama group should be a fun mix of learning and activity for kids five to 15 years old.

There will be puppets, improvisation, stage fighting, and script work to learn about. Classes at Ponoka United Church will be held, in the morning for the five- to nine-year-old group, and in the afternoon for the 10- to 15-year-old crowd.

“I'm really happy to be starting this, there has been a really good response to it,” says Kirchener, “I'm so very excited, we wound up getting a lot of youth so it's really nice because they'll be able to nurture those little ones, and (the younger group will) help the youth have fun and discover, and be who they are.”

There will be a good mixture of kids experienced with some form of drama, and those who have no experience at all. What makes a drama camp different, says Kirchner, is that generally the kids who go into it know what it is they are wanting to do, a specific thing unlike general summer camps which offer a number of different hobbies or crafts.

The four-day camp runs two and a half hours a day for each group. Kirchner says, “You can really do a lot in four days.” There will be a final performance for the parents and families which will showcase what the kids have learned during the camp.

“The project is always a wonderful part of the package, but it's really about building relationships and helping people find something in them that was always there, but bringing out that specialness,” Kirchner said.

“I love that about theatre.”