Youth acting, but not their age
By KALEY CONNER
Gasping for breath, 13-year-old Shaylan Holmes chased Samantha Rohleder, 14, around the room in a friendly game of tag. All the while, Holmes was reciting one of Puck's monologues in William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream."
It might not seem like a conventional acting method, but the idea was to help the young actresses boost energy in their performance. And in the end, all agreed it was successful.
"So I'm going to be running around backstage," Holmes said with a gasp.
Seven teenage girls have signed up for a week-long intensive Shakespeare acting workshop, hosted by the Hays Arts Council. Elké Van Dyke, a New York City resident, is spending the week in Hays to teach acting lessons.
"In acting, every teacher says, 'Get out of your head, get out of your head,' " said Van Dyke, who has family in Plainville. "And I'll say it's about being in your head, but also being in your body."
A second acting class is offered for 10- to 12-year-olds from 9 a.m. to noon at Hays Arts Center, 1010 Main. The Shakespeare class is taught from 1 to 5 p.m. Both classes will conclude with performances for family and friends.
Van Dyke is working with Teen Shakespeare Conservatory, a New York-based initiative, and travels the country as a voice and text coach. Her goal is to help the young actors not only understand the complicated language, but to make it come to life, she said.
"They're really taking to it," Van Dyke said of the Hays group. "I had kind of made some of my exercises a little bit easier, but then once I met them, they were really hungry for the language."
This was evident in the girls' acting during rehearsal Wednesday afternoon. Samantha Wilson, 16, added much gusto to her performance as Titania, a beautiful fairy queen.
"I love you!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around the feet of 14-year-old Samantha Rohleder, who plays the role of Nick Bottom, whose head is transformed into that of a donkey.
"Thee," Van Dyke corrected.
Meanwhile, Rohleder amused her classmates with an off-pitch musical performance during the "rude mechanicals" scene.
"We never get tired of this," said 13-year-old Lexie Wasinger with a giggle. "The only bad thing is, sometimes we've got to play boys."