The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
It's not often that children are encouraged to act up, but that's been the case this week. The Second Annual Summer Drama Camp, held at the Anglican Parish of St. Peter and St. James, has brought out the Clint Eastwood and Judy Garland in young participants. "We know that there's a need for drama education in towns other than big cities," said Andrea Rhynard, co-instructor along with Erin Hammond. On the first day of classes, Rhynard split six of her students into two lines. Soon one side of children became snakes, the other side alligators. Then one side would act sad, the other happy. Just like with the other exercises, there were plenty of young giggles. "We've got tonnes of different activities," noted Rhynard. "We just try and keep it going fast Ð little activities, doing lots of different things... so it's not going to get boring." Part of what keeps the kids interested is the improvisation. Rhynard said she's impressed with the youthful creativity. "That's the joy of doing this," she said. "Seeing kids just come out of their shells and just blow you away with the stuff that they have. They have such great imaginations, so much creativity in them, and our job is just to bring that out and to see what happens." Both Rhynard and Hammond, who is originally from Flin Flon, teach drama and theatre in Winnipeg. "Growing up there were only a few experiences for me with drama," commented Hammond. "There was experience with music and with dance, but not with the dramatic arts... I really wanted to come back to Flin Flon to sort of take part in giving back to the community and increasing the kids' ability to carry this on even without us coming." Regardless of whether the youngsters one day hit the silver screen or theatre stage, Rhynard believes they benefit. "I think the most important thing Ð and the thing that we try to focus on Ð is bringing up their confidence," she said. "Not necessarily that they're going to become actors or people in the profession at all, but it really helps to open themselves up and to experience something new that they've never experienced before."
