Young People's Theatre to Feature French Language Summer Programming

Young People's Theatre (YPT) is pleased to announce that their hugely popular Summer Drama Camp is expanding to include French Language programming!

Beginning August 5th, students entering grades 7 to 9 who are bilingual orfluent in French will learn about l'art dramatique, create their own original piece of theatre, have lots of fun - and do it all in French!

YPT Drama School Director Liz Pounsett says, "It is very exciting to be initiating a new class for our Francophone community. I believe whether students speak French at home or at school, this camp will provide a welcome and fun place to create and play in French. As a bilingual theatre artist, I am conscious of the importance of having opportunities to create in your own language. While studying theatre in France for two years, I came to fully appreciate the force of working in one's own language - translating in your head can be a distracting experience! I sincerely hope that this camp will provide a fun and open forum for Francophone and French-speaking students alike, where they will have the chance to develop a theatrical voice that is authentic."

Now in its 45th year, the Drama School at Young People's Theatre attracts the very best professional instructors and the new French program is no exception. Matt Miwa, an Ottawa-based artist working in numerous fields including performance art, video and theatre, will be guiding the students. His current theatre work, The Tashme Project, has taken him all around the country collecting the oral history of the Japanese Canadian internment experience during WWII. A presentation of this play will be taking place in Toronto in September 2014. A lover of theatre in all sizes,shapes and venues, Matt frequently works in French and English and has produced two co-lingual plays for the Ottawa Fringe Festival. Past Theatre for YoungAudiences productions include Lost in TV, An Evening with Stellaluna and Goldilocks and the Haunted House. Matt is also the Executive Director of the Prix Rideau Awards in Ottawa - Gatineau's Professional Theatre Awards Organization.

Please call Liz Pounsett at 416.363.5131 x242 to discuss eligibility prior to registration. As the course will be taught exclusively in French, and all the training, rehearsal, and performance will be in French, it is very important that students are indeed capable of speaking, writing and understanding thelanguage. If a student is not Francophone, significant previous French language training (i.e. TDSB French Immersion) is required.

YPT's Summer Drama Camp is filling quickly so register soon. A wide variety of English language programs are also available for grades 1 to 12 beginning June 30, thoughsome are sold out. YPT also offers Fall/Winter/Spring Drama School classes in Etobicoke, North York and downtown Toronto, as well as March Break Drama Camps downtown.

The campe will run August 5 to 15, 2014; 9-day Session: $580. The program is for students entering grades 7 to 9.

Young People's Theatre is located at 165 Front Street East, Toronto.

For more information or to register online visit youngpeoplestheatre.ca or call 416.862.2222

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