summer26-camps2.jpg
summer26-camps2.jpg

Acting Bootcamp | July 27-31

$240.00

This is a camp for rising 8-12 graders who want to jump in the deep end with a performance experience. In just five days, campers will experience the entire lifecycle of an acting gig: from audition to final curtain call. We'll be working for four hours a day on skills new and familiar, building an arsenal of acting techniques and growing confidence and friendships along the way. No experience necessary.

The week will cover:

  • Auditioning: how to choose a monologue that suits you and your goals, how to make strong acting choices, audition etiquette.

  • Cold readings: how to make big, fast choices when you've never read the script before.

  • In rehearsal: focusing on the pedagogy of Uta Hagen, particularly how to ask yourself the right questions to build your character and guide your choices, and how interacting with props guides storytelling.

  • Succeeding as an ensemble: why we do company bows and building a theatre community where everyone is seen and heard.

Other stuff you need to know:

  • Instructor: TBD

  • 12:30-4:30pm | Drop-off up to 30 minutes before

  • Location: 211 N Lewis St, Staunton

  • Designed for campers entering grades 8-12.

  • Wear comfortable movement clothes and closed-toe shoes, and bring a water bottle.

This is a camp for rising 8-12 graders who want to jump in the deep end with a performance experience. In just five days, campers will experience the entire lifecycle of an acting gig: from audition to final curtain call. We'll be working for four hours a day on skills new and familiar, building an arsenal of acting techniques and growing confidence and friendships along the way. No experience necessary.

The week will cover:

  • Auditioning: how to choose a monologue that suits you and your goals, how to make strong acting choices, audition etiquette.

  • Cold readings: how to make big, fast choices when you've never read the script before.

  • In rehearsal: focusing on the pedagogy of Uta Hagen, particularly how to ask yourself the right questions to build your character and guide your choices, and how interacting with props guides storytelling.

  • Succeeding as an ensemble: why we do company bows and building a theatre community where everyone is seen and heard.

Other stuff you need to know:

  • Instructor: TBD

  • 12:30-4:30pm | Drop-off up to 30 minutes before

  • Location: 211 N Lewis St, Staunton

  • Designed for campers entering grades 8-12.

  • Wear comfortable movement clothes and closed-toe shoes, and bring a water bottle.

A few words from Chris Johnston:

 I love stories, words, and imagination. The most powerful piece of theatrical construction is the imagination. Telling stories to a room full of people is a magical event. It is an actors great responsibility to cultivate this imagination and make it blossom into an unforgettable story. 


I received my BFA from the University of Utah’s Actor Training Program and my MFA in Shakespeare & Performance from Mary Baldwin University. In the professional realm, I've worked for over twenty years as an actor and music director for such companies as Salt Lake Shakespeare, Black Dog Theatre Company (founding member), Egyptian Theatre Company,  the American Shakespeare Center (over 120 productions), and several others.  During my time at the ASC, I served as Resident Music Director and Actor Manager for several years. 


Acting credits include Macbeth in Macbeth, Enobarbus in Antony and Cleopatra, Feste in Twelfth Night, Flamenio in The White Devil, and Rosencrantz in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead. Music directing credits include Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Return to the Forbidden Planet, Peter and the Starcatcher and the world premiere of The Willard Suitcases.