The future stars of Theatre NorthWest will be taking the stage tonight (Tuesday).
Throughout the Summer, young actors have been preparing for a production of the Tempest, a Shakespeare play.
“The Tempest is a great play for audiences, because it has a great mix of comedy, but also some tragedy,” said Artistic Director and Instructor Melissa Glover. “There’s some really universal themes of first love, betrayal, we have people coming to an island that they’re not familiar with, so there’s a touch of colonialism, but also forgiveness.”
The play is being put on as part of the Shooting Stars Theatre Summer Camp, with actors between the ages of 11 and 17.
“We moved it to Theatre NorthWest in 2015, so I’ve been doing it for a long time,” Glover said “We’re very lucky to get the use of the theatre because they get to perform on a professional stage, we have lights, we have sound, we have the costumes.”
Glover added it’s an intensive camp, with rehearsals of around seven hours a day.
“Which is typical of a professional actor,” she added. “So it kind of gives them a taste of, ‘do I really want to do this for the rest of my life, or should I just do, maybe, like, it as a hobby.”
“It’s very fun though,” said Nico, who will be playing Prospero.
The young actor said the camp has given him a glimpse of what it’s like to be on Broadway or something similar.
“I can see how people will say being in the industry is quite stressful, but fun,” he said.
This is his second year in the camp.
“I saw two years ago, I saw one of the Theatre NorthWest plays, and I noticed in the program, there was a mention about the summer camp,” Nico explained. “I didn’t know registration was over, so last year I mentioned to my mom about it, and then she was like “I can register you,” and last year we did Twelfth Night, and it was quite fun.”
The production opens tonight (Tuesday), and will run until Friday, with performances starting at 7 p.m.
Ticket information can be found here.
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