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By James Ensor
Hometown Weekly Reporter
This week, and all year round, Drama Kids International has offered a weeklong course for local kids at the Pfaff Center. 24 kids signed up for the regular Drama Kids program this last week, plus an additional seven in an acting academy film program that has spun off from the main drama courses.
Superheroes and Supervillains was the theme of last week’s course, which ran from Monday, August 15 to Friday, August 19. “They’re working on superheroes and supervillains and writing their own play this week,” said Susie Pallis of Drama Kids. “Next week, we will have a different theme every day, and we also incorporate art - they design their own sets and costumes.”
During the week of August 22 through 26, the Drama Kids will be taking on about 30 new campers who will be working with themes like fantasy, royalty, fairytales, superheroes and aliens. Appropriately, the week’s theme is titled “Out of this World,” and they plan on pulling one activity each day for the performance on Friday.
Australian TV actress Helen O’Grady launched Drama Kids International in 1985. The program quickly gained popularity and has since spread to 1,500 locations throughout the US, Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, South Africa and Europe. Over 50,000 kids are participating.
The driving mission behind O’Grady’s initial program is to teach kids, through the fun of acting, important life skills such as creative thinking, public speaking, leadership and teamwork. What follows is a boost in the camper’s self-esteem and confidence, whether or not they decide to pursue the stage further.
For interested parents and kids, the classes begin again in September, and the Pfaff Center is a central and versatile location for the program. As a year-long program, Drama Kids offers an enjoyable supplement to school activities and participants will be putting their extra public speaking experience into use in the classroom.
