New Summer Theater Program at Oddfellows

Oddfellows Playhouse offers summer theater workshop experience for 4-7 year olds

Oddfellows Playhouse is offering a summer theater camp experience for children ages 4-7 years old featuring and focusing on the works of beloved children’s author and illustrator, Eric Carle.

There are two sessions set. Session one begins on Mon. July 11th and ends on July 22nd while the second session runs from Aug. 1-12. Sessions are from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. but before and after care is available with drop off at 8:15 p.m. and pick up at 4:00 p.m.

The day begins with an opening activity to prepare your child for the lessons they are going to learn for the day. The morning will consist of two different arts sessions and a snack break. Students will head outside to the Wesleyan University Campus for an outside activity and lunch followed by some quiet reading/rest time.

The afternoon continues with two more arts sessions and snack. All students will come together at 3:15 p.m. for a closing activity. Students will be dismissed starting at 3:30 p.m.

Children will work to create a story with their peers utilizing Eric Carle’s visual techniques under the direction of the talented teaching artists. Campers will create a storybook and live performance of their story. Family and friends are invited to join the performance at 1p.m. on the final day of each session to share the performance.

Campers will be in a group of students of the same age, and led by an artistic assistant, who will spend the day working with your child alongside the teaching artists. There will be no more than 15 students in each age group. There will be two adults with the children at all times, as well as additional Oddfellows Playhouse staff on-site.

Tuition for the class is $350 per student. Before and after care is an additional $50 for the session. Snacks are provided but students should bring their own peanut-free lunch each day.

For more information or to register call Oddfellows Playhouse at (860) 347-6143 or log onto www.oddfellows.org.

About Oddfellows Playhouse:

Oddfellows Playhouse is located at 128 Washington Street, Middletown. For more than 35 years Oddfellows Playhouse has been more than just a performing arts program. It aims to make a positive difference in the lives of 2,000 young people each year by using the arts as tools to build self-confidence, communication skills, a sense of responsibility, and an appreciation for the richness and diversity of the world in which we live.

Oddfellows programming is made possible through the generous support of the CT Department of Education, the CT Commission on Culture & Tourism, The Stare Fund, the Middletown Commission on the Arts, Pratt & Whitney-Middletown, the Irving Kohn Foundation and the Daphne Seybolt Culpeper Memorial Fund.

About the teaching staff:

Renee Soares (Visual Arts ) Journey through the unique and creative world of Renee S. Soares. Born in Providence, Rhode Island of African American, Cape Verdean, Native American, and West Indian descent, this artist extraordinaire creates two-dimensional masks that reflect the cultural diversity of the world in which we live. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Theatre Arts, Speech, and Dance from Brown University and presently resides in Middletown, Connecticut where she makes her living as a visual artist, fine art curator, and visual and performance art educator. Working in the medium of polymer clay with glass beads and mixed media, Soares creates original, one of a kind pieces that range in size, color, and configuration. Her work has been exhibited at fine art galleries and private showings in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey. Many of her pieces are commissioned by private collectors and can be found in public venues throughout the City of Hartford including the Office of the State Treasurer, Denise Nappier.

Kristen Palmer (Playwrighting/Storytelling) is a playwright and arts educator. She has over 15 years experience developing and teaching theatre and creative arts programs in Atlanta, New York City, rural Kansas, Seattle, Washington DC, Minneapolis, England and Virginia. From 2005–2008 she was a full-time teacher at Brooklyn Free School, developing the elementary program there and leading a writing program for all students, and before that she worked as a Teaching-Artist and Program Manager with the Creative Arts Team in NYC. As a playwright she is a member of the Women's Project Lab (NYC), received a Jerome Fellowship, been a finalist for the O'Neill Festival and her plays have been produced in New York City, LA, Washington DC, Seattle and Poughkeepsie, NY. She holds a MA from NYU where she studied Educational Theatre and a BA in Dramatic Arts from Bretton Hall College, in Yorkshire, England.

Kim West (Movement) moved to CT in 2005; since then she has directed for Hartford Children’s Theater, Portland Public Schools, America Globe Play Fest NYC and several staged readings and short plays for Temple Players, Square Wright, EastBound and the Stratford Theatre Consortium. She has taught for Hartford Stage, Hartford Children’s Theater, Oddfellows Playhouse, and the Greater Hartford Academy for the Performing Arts.

Jamie Guite (Acting) loves having the ability to work with her theatrical creativity developing a new improve troupe, and as a member of Too Many Monkeys for 6 years. She has been trained at The Circle In the Square, Southern Connecticut State University, and is a graduate of the Upright Citizens Brigade. Jamie has been seen in such roles as Normal Jean in The Colored Museum, Sandy in The Dream's On Me, and the Queen in Cymbeline. She has been teaching theatre throughout CT for the last 12 years.

Stefanie DiBacco (Site Director) is in her first summer at Oddfellows Playhouse. Stefanie is excited to join Oddfellows Playhouse. Stefanie holds her BS in Elementary Education from CCSU, and her CT State Teacher’s Certification K-6. She is certified in First Aid & CPR. Stefanie currently teaches at Macdonough Elementary School in Middletown.