Get to know the real you

Published 7:00 pm Wednesday, June 7, 2006

BPA Theatre School is transformative experience.

It’s been a year of changes at the Bainbridge Performing Arts Theatre School. Longtime Education Director Steven Fogell left last spring, theater school teacher Karen Harp-Reed stepped in to finish up the season, and after being tapped to serve as the new director, this year she has implemented changes to make the successful program even better.

“We’re taking the foundation that was Stephen’s legacy and growing it bigger,” Harp-Reed said.

It’s appropriate then that the fifth- through eight-grade theater class is staging a production called simply “Transformation.”

But first the overall changes. The biggest change is probably the division of the first- through fourth-grade class into two classes, first and second grade and third and fourth.

“It was developmentally more appropriate for the first and second graders to split off from the third and fourth graders,” Harp-Reed said. “The change has really proved that.” Most importantly, the older kids can read scripts and develop characters, while the younger ones can spend more time on getting down the basic skills.

Next fall Harp-Reed plans on creating new age divisions, with fifth and sixth graders together, and seventh, eight and ninth graders in another group. Tenth grade through adults will form an evening class, as an outgrowth of Second Stage, a group started this year for adults interested in learning acting and performing advanced scenes.

While those are external changes, Harp-Reed said she also sees transformations in the students who come into the theater school. She noted that many of the students who come to the after school program feel they don’t fit in with their classmates, and may act out. That changes once they get involved in the school.

“They have a home here,” Harp-Reed said. “They’re totally accepted for who they are here.” She sees shy students become boisterous on the stage, and loud ones become quiet and contemplative. In acting like someone else they discover who they truly are.

The theater school has nurtured many students who have gone on to perform in full scale productions at The Playhouse, and a few have continued in theater in college or as a career.

And now about the plays coming up this week:

The newly formed first and second grade theater group is presenting “Everyone Knows What a Dragon Looks Like,” 5 p.m. June 7 (that’s today) at The Playhouse, 200 Madison Ave. N, Bainbridge Island. The students will show off their newly acquired skills of dramatic play, dialogue and character development. Not bad for eight weeks of work.

The tale by Jay Williams illustrates that appearances — especially in the case of dragons — can be deceiving.

This production is free, but donations to the school’s scholarship fund are always appreciated.

Stick around, at 7:30 p.m. the third and fourth graders stage “Peter Rabbit,” adapted by Steven Fogell. This production is $6 all seats, tickets at the box office, by phone at (206) 842-8569 or online at www.theplayhouse.org.

The fifth through eighth grade performers stage “Transformation” for two nights, 7:30 p.m. June 13 and 14. Harp-Reed said the play shows other ways that theatrics and stories can be portrayed. In this highly original production the students develop a character, or persona, and create a transformation for that character.

“It’s been really fun. It’s perfect for young teens,” she said, with all the trans-formations going on in their lives at this point.

She describes the production as Cirque de Soleil-like, with stiltwalkers, mimes, jump ropers and tumblers.

“Theater transforms us — and we hope the audience is transformed as well,” she said.

Second Stage presents an evening of scenes from well-known authors and playwrights, 7:30 p.m. June 8 and 9. Tickets are $10 all seats, available at the box office, by phone at (206) 842-8569 or online at www.theplayhouse.org.

The theater school is open to anyone interested in getting involved with theater. Scholarships are available, and the school fosters a nurturing, supportive environment in which self-esteem, caring for others and a love of theater blossom.

Visit the Web site at www.theplayhouse.org for information on registering for the summer session, which gets underway later this month.