Lifeline Theatre Announces 2012 Summer Drama Camps

Rogers Park's Lifeline Theatre continues bringing educational opportunities to children with its twelfth annual Summer Drama Camps. Lifeline Theatre's Summer Drama Camps introduce kids to basic principles of performance and the kind of work that Lifeline is known for, namely story adaptation and ensemble work. Over the course of the programs, students explore popular children's books and adapt them for the stage, and parents enjoy a performance at the end. In Lifeline's camps, kids learn not only how to act out stories and characters, but also how to work more patiently and respectfully with their peers, gain confidence, and express themselves better.

For 2012's theme of "Home Sweet Home," campers will explore two works of popular children's literature that revolve around an animal, his family, and the dear place he calls home: Gene Zion's Harry the Dirty Dog in Junior Drama Camp (ages 4-6), and Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr. Fox in Drama Camp (ages 7-11). Both camps culminate in a special performance for family and friends.

Junior Drama Camp (ages 4-6): Monday, June 25 - Friday, June 29; 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Final presentation: Friday, June 29 at 11:30 a.m.

Drama Camp (ages 7-11): weekdays, Monday, July 9 - Friday, July 20
Regular Session: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Half-day Session: 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Final presentation: Friday, July 20 at 3 p.m.

Lifeline Theatre, 6912 N. Glenwood Ave., Chicago, IL 60626
Parking available (street and lot); CTA accessible (Red Line Morse stop/buses)
Handicapped accessible

To register, call 773-761-4477 or visit www.lifelinetheatre.com
Junior Drama Camp: $175 per child
Drama Camp, regular session: $625 per child; half-day session: $375 per child

Lunch can be provided during these sessions for an additional $60

Junior Drama Camp will be taught by Edward Paul.
Drama Camp will be taught by Mechelle Moe and Amanda Rountree

Edward Paul is a theatre arts educator, actor, and musician. For the past ten years, Paul has been teaching workshops and classes for kids ages K-12, focusing on movement and rhythm, basic acting skills, improvisation, and storytelling. In addition to working with Lifeline Theatre as a performer and educator since 2005, Paul is also a company member at Griffin Theatre where he has had the opportunity to perform, direct after-school programs, and teach workshops all across the nation. He is currently in the process of developing a new drama program in Bloomington/Normal for the Normal Public Library.

Mechelle Moe is a founding member of The Hypocrites, and works as an actor, director and teaching artist. She has been featured at TimeLine (The Children's Hour, Not Enough Air, Paradise Lost), The Hypocrites (The Bald Soprano, Angels in America, The Glass Menagerie), and Court (What the Butler Saw). Moe received a BA in Theater and BA in Anthropology from the University of Illinois in Chicago, and was awarded a Joseph Jefferson Citation for Principal Actress and After Dark Award for her performance in Sophie Treadwell's Machinal.

Amanda Rountree came to Chicago by way of Seattle, where she was a company member of Unexpected Productions and the Co-Artistic Director of Playback Theater Northwest. Her one-woman show, The Good, the Bad, and the Monkey recently ran in Chicago and is touring this year. When Rountree is not performing directing or writing, she is teaching, most notably with Lifeline Theatre, Youngest Child Productions, and The Second City Training Center.

Now in its 29th season, Lifeline Theatre specializes in original literary adaptations. Its ensemble of artists uses imaginative, unconventional staging to portray sprawling stories in an intimate space. Lifeline is committed to promoting the arts in its Rogers Park neighborhood and is an anchor of the Glenwood Avenue Arts District. We aspire to create art that is relevant to our culturally diverse, increasingly youthful neighborhood. Lifeline Theatre – Big Stories, Up Close.
Lifeline Theatre's programs are partially supported by Alphawood Foundation; The Arts Work Fund; Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation; a CityArts grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events; Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation; The Richard H. Driehaus Charitable Lead Trust; Lloyd A. Fry Foundation; The Grover Hermann Foundation; Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince; The Pauls Foundation; The Polk Bros. Foundation; The Rhoades Foundation; S&C Foundation; The Saints; and the annual support of businesses and individuals.

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