Two Harbors kids get dramatic with community theater group
In Two Harbors resident Katya Gordon’s mind, the play is the thing. About a year and a half ago, she started the Two Harbors Drama Club because she wanted to create an activity for younger kids that developed the right side of the brain, was free, and didn’t require more time commitment than was necessary.
- Two Harbors Drama Club
In Two Harbors resident Katya Gordon’s mind, the play is the thing. About a year and a half ago, she started the Two Harbors Drama Club because she wanted to create an activity for younger kids that developed the right side of the brain, was free, and didn’t require more time commitment than was necessary.
Gordon regularly has about 15 to 20 members, some of whom are homeschooled and others who attend school in the area. The kids, some of whom have participated in all of the group’s five performances, range in age from first-graders to high school students.
Gordon writes all the plays, which are kid-friendly. A few of the past ones revolve around a Christmas or Thanksgiving theme or a retelling of the “The Wind in the Willows.” Gordon says that every kid receives a part and that the actors memorize lines quickly. While a few of the participants come and go, Gordon says most of them continue to stay and participate in performances and the acting games. She says that acting games come very naturally to the kids who enjoy this type of creative fun.
“You know if they like it if they keep coming back,” Gordon said. “I think kids love to act.”
Next month’s performance will be “Winnie the Pooh.” Rehearsals are held every Friday as schedules will permit for the cast of about 20 actors at the United Church. Gordon says altogether the club’s plays are usually about a 30 minutes. The group performs for about 40 to 80 audience members.
That’s part of the fun for 12 year-old Two Harbors Drama Club actor and now stage director Malachi Schubert. He says his duties as stage director involve working with the actors and cuing them to go on stage.
“It’s a lot of responsibility,” Schubert said.
This is Schubert’s fifth stage performance. He says he just really likes performing and acting.
“I like to pretend to be someone I’m not,” he said.
Mariah Amesbury, 10, agrees. She says she plans on doing a lot of acting in the future and does drama every time she’s offered the opportunity. Amesbury will be playing Cleany, one of Rabbit’s friends, in the play.
“I get to act sophisticated,” she said. “I have a fun accent.”
Parent Paul Freese, whose eight and six year-old daughters are in the play, is a fan of the Drama Club. He says his children really enjoy getting to act and participate.
“They’re excited,” he said. “Maria [his daughter] practices all the time.”
Gordon says the group gets by on donations, which are given at the door before the performance. The donations cover the cost of paint, sets, and the rental fee of the Two Harbors Community Center, which is one of the Drama Club’s usual venues. Gordon says she used to put up signs to advertise the group but now she relies on word of mouth.
“What the group is,” she said, “is perfect now.”
The Two Harbors Drama Club performance of “Winnie the Pooh” will be April 21 at the Two Harbors Community Center. Performance times have not been announced yet.
Tags: two harbors, two harbors drama club
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