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  • Theater students Shelby Branch, Emilie Cliett and Anthony Bell take part in an acting exercise Tuesday afternoon at Allied Arts. Sarah Beth Ariemma

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August 25, 2010

Allied Arts fall theater classes engage local youth

SARAH BETH ARIEMMA The Union-Recorder

MILLEDGEVILLE — Ruby Wertz, a volunteer for Allied Arts, has been teaching children for more than 30 years and directing acting classes for children and teens for the past 10 years. This fall, she will conduct classes on Tuesday nights for local youth, providing them with skills to develop confidence on stage that they will hopefully utilize in their adult years and later on in life.

Local elementary school children can enjoy Allied Arts theater classes with Wertz from 3 until 4 p.m., while middle and high school youth will have an opportunity to polish their skills from 4:15 to 5:30 p.m.

“We use acting to teach other life skills,” Wertz said. “We use reading and memorizing skills as well to allow the children to write many of their own scripts.”

Allied Arts and Wertz conduct three sets of acting sessions a year. The fall classes run for eight weeks with a concluding production featuring all the students.

“The classes are not working toward a performance. We’re working toward gaining life skills for the troupe. We do dramatic readings that the children act out and practice visualization as well as teach them the confidence needed to succeed when they grow up.”

Each class is specifically designed to be age-appropriate and teach lessons that participants can utilize and rely upon should they ever branch out and audition for other shows.

“Occasionally I’ve had some theater majors come in and help out with the kids,” Wertz said, “but what we’ve found is that what works for college students and teens is not effective for children, so I try to gear the classes to what works for every age group. With the older kids, the classes are a bit more advanced and more appropriate to their level.”

Wertz teaches the children and teens to pay close attention to detail.

“I want the kids to know the importance of costumes and staying true to the era and how things are supposed to look. It gives them a direct sense of being in character and makes the situations more real — making them better actors,” Wertz said.

Donations to Allied Arts in the form of costumes are always welcome. Even if the clothes donated are not of the finest quality or shape, the donation can be used.

“I try to teach the kids that every article of clothing can be reshaped or fixed up in order to match the look of the production,” Wertz said.

A typical day in the classes includes stage work and theater games. “The Hat Game” and the “Question” game are favorites of the kids. “The Hat Game” utilizes hats for props and those in the hats are prompted to ad-lib and produce a quick play for the audience. The “Question” game is played by asking questions.

The classes also focus on movement and reading. Facial expression exercises teach students to portray emotion honestly. Pantomiming is also a class favorite.

Emilie Cliett, a student in the teen class, has been looking forward to the eight-week class ever since she participated in other acting adventures.

“I’m excited. I’ve been looking forward to us doing Pirates ever since dressing up for the party at Aubri Lanes.”

Brothers Aaron and Tyler Epps said they enjoy the rush in class of pretending to be other persons and characters.

“Getting to be someone else is fun. I’ve been doing the classes since 2008, so I’ve done about five classes,” Aaron said. “I’ve also been a helper in the pre-K acting camp classes.”

“This looks like an exciting class to do because I’ve never been a pirate,” Tyler chimed in.

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