High School Actors Mix Shakespeare, Improvisational Comedy

Children are two steps ahead of adults when it comes to learning how to act.

That's according to 's Lisa Melinn, who has been teaching high school age children to act this week in a new five-day camp. The intensive Water Works Academy program aims to teach teens acting, dancing and improvisational skills. The program concludes with a public performance Friday at 5:50 p.m. in .

The final two-hour show will include a mix of monologues, dancing, interactional improvisation and brief scenes from Shakespearian plays such as The Tempest and Hamlet.

The camp coincides with the shows.

Bridget Vial, 14, is one of 11 students in the program. She says she enrolled to learn Shakespearean theater. At first she had trouble getting through the dense language of Shakespearean plays, she said, but has adjusted by studying the tone and physical mannerisms of actors.

"It has a certain rhythm to it," the student said. "Even if you don't know exactly what it is being said, it sounds like poetry."     

Of all the skills the campers are learning, Vial said she finds improvisation to be the most fun. The teen actors frequently break into laughter while improvising comedy, which acts as an ice-breaker.

"Everyone gets to know each other in the first five seconds," Vial said. "You know you only have five days, so you get to be friends very quickly." 

Beyond the fun, some are participating in the acting camp to prepare themselves for acting careers.

Kenny Church, a 16-year-old from Waterford and the lone male in the program, said the program helps him project, be more creative and gain confidence in his acting abilities. 

Church said he is starting a YouTube channel with his friends that will have parodies of Shakespearean plays, including a “spin off of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Harry Potter.”

"I do a little bit of the Mel Brooks — I write, I produce, I direct and then once in a while I jump in and act," he said.

Next week the Water Works Theatre Company will conduct a program called KidsAct! for elementary and middle school children, which is full at 75 kids.

Melinn expects around 100 people to attend this Friday’s show. She says she loves teaching the fundamentals of acting, not only because it makes her a better actor, but because she gets to see the kids improve and gain self confidence.

"One of these girls barely spoke out loud when I had her in KidsAct!," she said. "She is the first person to dive in now."