By Megan Miller, Editor
TRUSSVILLE – Putting on a theatre production may seem simple when the audience settles in to watch the show, but months of preparation go into each show, on and off stage.
ACTA is now offering a chance for children grades 3-12 to learn about every facet of the theater through their “ACTAing Classes,” beginning January 10.
Classes will teach audition dos and don’ts, emotion and line delivery, set and costume design, theatre lingo, improvisation, timing, stage makeup and more.
According to class instructor Lucy Lunsford, ACTA has offered acting classes on and off over the course of the last 25 plus years, but it’s been several years
“There’s always a general interest, so the board approached me and asked me to start teaching,” Lunsford said.
Each month of the class will focus on a different aspect of theatre, and Lunsford said guest instructors from within the community will also showcase other aspects of theatre.
Lunsford will be teaching the class with the assistance of ACTA veteran Meghan Godsey.
“Usually if you’re acting in a show, you’re helping with something else, especially in community theatre you need to have your hand in all of it,” Godsey said.
The classes will begin with on-stage basics, and transition to behind-the-scenes instruction throughout the semester.
“Each class will have a lesson planned and we’ll learn something new, then put that into effect,” Lunsford said. “We’ll then let them try out what they’ve learned through games, improv challenges, design your own set challenges in 30 minutes or less, things like that, to get the kids involved in getting to use what they’ve learned.”
Lunsford said the classes will focus on learning skills and having fun, rather than channeling those skills into a production.
“In production you can be in such a hurry, there’s so much busy work involved,” Lunsford said. “They can just have fun and learn because it’s really an art form, it’s not just having fun with your friends, this is an occupation for some and it takes work.”
The classes will also be about sharpening skills participants can take out into the real world, like confidence, public speaking and maturity.
“I was very shy and in my shell until I started theatre, and it helps you build so much self-confidence and makes you confident being around people who are different than you,” Godsey said. “A lot of the kids I’ve met through theatre have been more mature and seemed older than they are, and I think that’s from the stuff they’ve learned through theatre.”
Classes will take place Tuesdays at ACTA from 4-5:30 p.m. Registration forms are available online and should be mailed in to ACTA upon completion. Classes are $80 per month or $20 per lesson.