Hershey Area Playhouse Announces Fall Acting Classes for Adults and Youth

Taught by instructors with experience in theatre and education, Hershey Area Playhouse's Theatre Academy announces its 2016 fall acting classes for students in grades K-12 and adults.

Fast-paced, fun-based learning classes for students in grades K-12 will be held over eight consecutive Saturdays, beginning Sept. 17. All classes are being held at The Playhouse, located at the corner of Sand Hill Road and Cherry Drive.

In the Creative Kids session, students in grades K-3 will learn to share ideas through movement and imaginative play, helping to expand students' creative and artistic possibilities. Being held from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., this session will help students build communication, confidence and self-expression by exploring imaginative movement.

The Acting It Up session, for students in grades 4-6, will incorporate a mixture of theatre mime, creative drama and improvisational acting, focusing on non- verbal communication to expand movement vocabulary. Held from 10:30 a.m. to noon, each session will give students the confidence to create realistic characters and explore imaginary worlds.

In the Theatre Arts Studio 1 session, students in grades 7-12 will use fast-paced theatre games to combine the antics of improvisation with some solid learning of acting skills with an emphasis on movement and non-verb. Held from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., students will form a troupe to create interactive improvisational performances where the audience drives the action.

All student sessions culminate in a performance opportunity for each age group.

A new Theatre Academy offering this fall is adult acting classes. Focused on the art of improvisation, classes will be held Tuesdays from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., beginning Sept. 20 through Oct. 25 at The Playhouse. Classes will be taught by veteran actor and improvisation specialist Lisa Lutton Weitzman, most currently seen on area stages as one of a trio of comediennes that make up the Coffee With Crones comedy improvisation team.

Hershey Area Playhouse's Theatre Academy works from a theatre curriculum based on the Pennsylvania standards for excellence in arts education with a rotating emphasis on skills in creating and imagining, performing for others, responding and critiquing performances, and learning about the cultural and historical connections to theatre works.

For more information and to register for classes, visit www.HersheyAreaPlayhouse.com. For additional questions, contact Theatre Academy Director Cory Wilkerson at coryw2.0@gmail.com.

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