Selma teens wow crowds in second Yellowhammer Theater camp

The curtain has closed on the second year of Yellowhammer Theater’s Summer Camp where 14 middle schoolers got to create and act in their own plays.

In partnership with the Edmundite Missions’ New Possibilities Youth Program, students in sixth through eighth grades from Payne and R.B. Hudson learned the basics of theater such as vocabulary, blocking (movement), story structures and playwriting – and they got to write their own plays.

“These kids don’t get to be in plays in school,” Director Patti Siegel said. “Last year when we did it, we had 19 kids and only two had ever seen a play.”

Two other theater professionals helped teach the camp with Siegel: Emily McClain, a theater teacher and an award-winning playwright, and Matthew Nails who was a middle school teacher with a theater degree.

“Emily and Matthew put together a whole package of seven world myths from all over,” Siegel said. “They divided the kids into three groups, and the kids used the stories they choose as the source material to write their own play.”

The campers had to write their own dialogue, block their scenes, selected props and designed simple costumes. The campers did it all themselves, guided by the Yellowhammer teaching artists. Siegel said the kids even memorized the lines.

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Along with making new friends, since some of the campers go to different schools, Siegel said they learn many deeper lessons theater teaches. “It teaches you collaborations, it teaches you to see another perspective. There is a lot of negotiation that goes on when you are writing a play together. There’s all kind of critical thinking going on.”

After the week of learning and writing and rehearsal, the camp culminated in performances of the three plays at the Selma Dallas County Public Library on the stage in the Vaughan Room. Siegel said the room with packed with the kids’ family and friends, and they were a lively audience.

“People were laughing in the right places, and I’m sure this might be one of the few times some of these kids get this kind of positive reinforcement,” Siegel said.

There will definitely be a Yellowhammer Theater camp next year, she said.

The group will also put on three plays this season. Marjorie Prime by Jordan Harrison will be Sept. 19 at ArtsRevive, A Complicated Hope by John Mabey will be Jan. 30 and 31 at The Harmony Club and Twilight At St. Cecilia’s by Emily McClain will be April 18 at Byrdland, the home of Helene and Trés Taylor.

Find information about the Yellowhammer Theater Camp and the upcoming performances at www.yellowhammertheatregroup.com.