By Kathleen Rudolph
– Drama classes have started again at RLT and the building is bursting with energy! Why take a drama class you ask? Well, why not?
Class participants in “Acting for Creative Entrepreneurs”
Have you always wanted to be an actor? Have you wondered what it is like to perform on a stage? Were you an actor once and haven’t done theatre in a while? Theatre training promotes self-esteem, builds confidence, stimulates creativity, sharpens communication skills, fosters an appreciation of team work, raises cultural awareness, celebrates diversity, encourages respect for self and others and lays the foundation for a lifelong love of the arts. The study of theatre not only trains students to be better actors, it inspires them to be better people. We passionately embrace our mission to use theatre to educate, enrich, entertain and engage students in our community. Whether it’s using live theatre to enhance the students’ understanding of literature, creative writing, history, problem solving, acting, technical theatre and much more, we invite you to take advantage of the resources RLT has to offer.
Young acting students
As far as age groups, we see a great variety here. Since our classes begin at age 4, kids begincoming to shows early. We hope that habit lasts with them a lifetime. And since some of our patrons have been with us 40 or so years, we are still holding on to the seniors! Theatre is wonderful for so many different types of folks. There is the student who always seems to be in the chorus and never can nail a big part. The one who tells me on the first day that he doesn’t want to act in front of an audience, so I explain he can help by being our class stage manager. The young boy who has tried lots of sports but hasn’t found one he likes. The young girl who is so shy in school. Just this week one of my 9 year old students said to me, “I had to stand up in front of my class today and give a speech. I was very scared, but you taught me how to be brave…so I did it.” Come play with us!