Shake(speare) up your summer
“All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.”
— William Shakespeare, “As You Like It.”
Shakespeare’s seven ages had a more lifelong meaning, but the kids in seven grade-ages can have a ball at Oregon Coast Council for the Arts’ popular Shakespeare Camp this summer.
Open to kids entering grades six through 12, the day camp will take place at the Newport Performing Arts Center June 17 to 27.
An annual favorite for local kids, the camp had been helmed for more than 20 years by Rod Molzahn – an actor, director, teacher, poet, playwright, historian and storyteller from Washington who devoted much of his life to researching the Bard, his work and the Elizabethan era.
He also spent several years touring his show, “A Visit with Will” across the United States and Canada. In recent years, Molzahn had been directing the camp with the assistance of Milo Graamans – and had made plans to pass the proverbial baton to Graamans after 2024. Sadly, Molzahn passed away in February.
“Rod showed us how fun and accessible Shakespeare can be,” Graamans said, “helping students to find the humor in the text and become invested in the story. His passion for the material was contagious and I look forward to continuing that legacy.”
To assist him, Graamans has tapped Danika Simon — another former Shakespeare Camp student. Simon now studies theater at Long Island University in New York, but always seems to find ways to assist at the Newport Performing Arts Center whenever she returns to the coast.
This year’s camp will culminate in a public performance of the pastoral comedy, “As You Like It.” Seeking her exiled father and escape from an oppressive court, Rosalind, disguised as a boy, flees with her cousin and a clown to the Forest of Arden. The woods offer freedom, a motley crew of characters and the chance to experience life and love from a whole new perspective, with fellow outcast Orlando. This show has it all — wise fools, a magical forest, young love — all the elements that make the Bard’s comedies such a joy.
“‘As You Like It’ holds significance with me as the first play I did with Rod as a Shakespeare Camp student in 2012,” Graamans said. “Rod had seven or eight Shakespeare plays in his rotation for this camp, and I wanted to honor him this year by choosing one of his ‘tried and true’ favorites.”
The camp takes place from 9 am to 3 pm daily at the Newport Performing Arts Center, located at 777 W Olive Street. The final public performance will be on Thursday, June 27, at 6:30 pm. Tuition is $450 per student, which includes a 2024 camp t-shirt. Scholarships are available. To learn more, register a student, or apply for financial assistance go to coastarts.org/events/shakes-camp or call 541-265-2787.