Dennis Price
GARDINER — Actor, improvisation master and teacher, Dennis Price will join the Johnson Hall SPARK Theater camp faculty this summer. Price will instruct the Creation Lab and Advanced SPARK classes.
Price, founder of Capital City Improv, studied and performed improvisation in Chicago with The Second City and IO Theater (formerly ImprovOlympic). While performing with IO house team Honeyslide, Price watched and worked with some of the best improvisers in Chicago.
Since coming to Maine in 1998, Price has worked as an actor, performer, improviser, teacher and director. He worked with the Theater at Monmouth for 12 years, and he was also seen at the Penobscot Theater in Bangor and The Public Theater in Lewiston. During the summer, he performs with ImprovAcadia in Bar Harbor.
Currently, Price teaches theater at Winthrop High School and also directs the drama program. He lives in Readfield with his wife, Dania, and Charlotte, the poodle.
Price joins Katherine Kollman and Helen Wright as SPARK instructors. Kollman is instructor for the Beginner’s SPARK Classes and Wright is the class assistant for Beginner’s SPARK, Creation Lab and Advanced SPARK.
Johnson Hall’s SPARK Beginner’s Camp launches campers into the world of theater. Campers will explore a wide variety of theater techniques and skills like miming, dance, improvisation, character work, voice training, juggling and sketch comedy. Beginner’s Camp also includes the fundamentals of the stage, from stage direction to teamwork to vocal projection. Campers will have fun while learning how to present and perform. The week will culminate with a variety show filled with newly learned skills for friends and family.
The camps will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, July 8 to 12, for ages 8 to 10, and July 15 to 19 for ages 10 to 12. The fee is $200. Scholarships are available.
Johnson Hall’s Creation Lab gives troupers the chance to delve into the process of writing, creating and performing a show. It will give them the opportunity to write sketches, develop characters and choreograph original movement pieces. The Creation Lab will also incorporate the use of simple props and costumes and may even involve multimedia elements.
Lab dates and times are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday with Session 1, ages 10 to 12, July 22 to 26; and Session 2, ages 12 to 14, July 29 to Aug. 2. The fee is $225 with scholarships available.
The Advanced SPARK Workshop will offer new and challenging exercises that will further craft trouper’s skills as a performer. The advanced workshop is for troupers looking to take the next step in creative development. The week will be a much more academic approach to theater than the Creation Lab but will still be fun, fast-paced and hands-on. Over the course of the week, troupers will create dozens of original pieces and have the opportunity to pick their favorites to perform at the end-of-the-week show.
Sessions will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, with ages 11 to 13, Aug. 5 to 9; ages 12 to 15, Aug. 12 to 16. Fee is $250 with scholarships available.
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