What is the Youth Funnery, and what makes it different from the teen program? We're so glad you asked! For starters, Youth Funnery is a one-week program which is designed for ages 9-12. It operates with the same focus and mission as the teen camp (fostering a love of theater, ensemble, language and Shakespeare through various techniques, exercises and games which work to stretch our bodies and voices, and to open our hearts and minds), without the intensive aspect of our two-week camp. Instead of staging a full-length play for an open audience, we host the families and friends of our campers to showcase our work on scenes selected from a variety of Shakespeare's plays. Together we will explore both tragedy and comedy, and all the drama in between!
While it is our sincere hope that those campers who attend Youth Funnery will go on to join the teen program, we welcome anyone with even the slightest curiosity about theater, Shakespeare, the arts in general, or just what this whacky camp is all about. No one is ever turned away for lack of funds or theater experience. The goal is to spend a week building a caring community together, and a supportive environment for creative growth and risk-taking. We will build our skills together as an ensemble, and strive to create rich and affecting performances.
Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions at: [email protected], or keep exploring our website further for more information about our mission, teaching methods, and staff.
Tuition and Scholarships:
Tuition is offered on a sliding scale to make the experience accessible to all families. The sliding scale also provides an opportunity for families to contribute to our scholarship fund, which strengthens our community-supported mission. In order to maintain our ability to run this program on a shoestring budget, we ask that each family pay as much as they can afford on that scale. No student is ever turned away because of financial reasons. We work to direct our scholarship funds to families who have real need and have no other resources to cover tuition. Please be generous with your child and our ensemble, recognizing what a great opportunity this experience can be for a student.
We ask you to consider how much you can afford to pay between $250-$450, and then we do our best to provide scholarship assistance to make up the difference. We are happy to set up an extended payment plan with you if that makes tuition more feasible. Our cost to run the program is $300/student, so for each student that can afford to pay $450, we are able to create a scholarship for a student who is unable to pay the full $300 tuition. Our goal is to create a situation wherein everyone who wants to attend is able to do so, and that we have an excited and diverse group of students from a variety of backgrounds and experiences.
When you pay as much as you can this helps everyone to afford the camp.
We do not rely on consistent funding or major donors. We make every effort to raise scholarship money through grant funding and local donations to keep the experience as affordable as we can. Please help us spread the word to anyone who might be interested in making a donation or sponsoring a student!
Registration and tuition forms are typically due BY May 31st You can let us know that you're interested in a scholarship via this form. We will make it happen for all interested students!
