What else is happening at YCTC?

Wednesday evening, the “What You Will” talent show went up, and since I know it beggars all description, I will simply pass along some photographs of the evening as soon as I can.

Thursday, instead of having a lecture, the whole camp went to see part of another show at the Blackfriars Playhouse: the Touring Troupe’s production of The Winter’s Tale, which was having a dress rehearsal during normal lecture time. However, the campers were only able to see the first half of the production, so there was a great variety of response to the pre-intermission part of the story. Some mentioning, “Leontes is pretty opinionated. I don’t think I like him at all.” or "Yay, for the depressing half!" Some of the campers have been in productions of this play; one had acted in The Winter’s Tale at ASCTC earlier this summer. Others were in the camp production two years back, and some had never seen or the play and had no idea of the story. It’s one of my favorites in Shakespeare, so here’s hoping they come back sometime to see the end. :)

As always, the weekends at camp are full of trips to the Playhouse to see the ASC’s shows, but this weekend featured two other special events. Saturday night was the Masquerade ball, a dress up affair featuring everything from Elizabethan Ball gowns to fairy wings. On Sunday the whole camp drove out to Lake Lofton to spend the day outside, where everyone had some time in the sun, on the beach, in the water, and just time to relax in the midst of all the craziness of camp.

Today we begin the home stretch, heading towards the final productions on Sunday afternoon. Everyone’s way more comfortable. We might make ice-cream runs during siesta, or sit around chatting about where best to find stain remover in walking distance of Stuart Hall. We start the late-night rehearsals in the Playhouse, where the campers get a chance to rehearse their plays in their performance space. This morning was the last workshop. There are only two more lectures, and the rest of the camp will be devoted to preparing for the final shows and preshow performances. You can feel the energy among the campers despite how much of their days are just plain hard work. Watching them succeed when we set the bar so high is a pleasure every day.