Ensemble Theatre Community School

Summer Program
Eagles Mere, Pennsylvania


		Program Description Program Overview Visit Web Site Get Free Info

For More Information, Contact
Seth Orbach, Director
Ensemble Theatre Community School
43 Lyman Circle
Shaker Heights, Ohio 44122
216-464-1688
http://www.etcschool.org

Type of Program: Residential arts program
Participants: Coeducational, ages 14–18
Program Dates: June 28 to July 30
Head of Program: Seth Orbach, Director

Location

Eagles Mere is a small summer community in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny Mountains. The town has a history of encouraging the performing arts and makes the community arts facility, the DeWire Center, available to the School. The beautiful surroundings—a lake, a supervised beach, and many hiking trails—offer a peaceful environment apart from the distractions of urban life.

Background and Philosophy

The Ensemble Theatre Community School (ETC), founded in 1984, is a five-week program that provides highly motivated students, ages 14 to 18, with a concentrated summer-training experience that is challenging and inspiring. At ETC, extraordinary people make exceptional theater. Students learn the craft of acting in classes and through performances. ETC emphasizes collaboration in a supportive environment. Self-discovery is encouraged—ETC’s small size and experienced, professional faculty members ensure that a student’s training is individualized.
A group is only as strong as each of its members; therefore, the contributions of every member of the community are essential. Learning to trust each other and to take creative risks are crucial aspects of the Ensemble Theatre Community School experience. ETC’s intensive, group-oriented structure encourages the understanding that the ensemble process—both on stage and off—and is vital in the creation of meaningful theater. In learning to take responsibility for the day-to-day needs of a community, ETC students learn some of the most important elements of exciting theater—communication, commitment, spontaneity, self-discipline, hard work, and fun.

Program Offerings

ETC is a school. During an ETC summer, course work is balanced with workshops and performances so that students can apply concepts learned in class to their work on stage. Each student takes core courses in acting, movement, and music. Instruction in technical theater occurs throughout the summer as students and instructors work together to build and paint the sets, construct costumes and props, and hang and focus the lights.
    Acting is taught in sections of 7 to 9 students to ensure individual attention. Freeing the imagination, responding truthfully in imaginary circumstances, and learning to trust are key elements of the curriculum. Topics include theater games, textual analysis, improvisation, and voice and diction.
    Movement class emphasizes the importance of physical control and expression for the student actor. Students explore their personal movement vocabularies in order to expand their awareness of their bodies and apply what they discover in their acting work. Creative improvisations are balanced with more traditional warm-ups and basic technique.
    Music combines musical theory with practical exercises in singing, breathing, and listening. Students are encouraged to explore and expand their musical potential and to experiment vocally. An advanced class is available for those students who have already had substantial training in music.
    Each student is cast in one major production and in a children’s theater piece that involves all students and faculty members. Plays are chosen based on which works best for an acting ensemble rather than by which feature only one or two leading roles.
    Some past productions have included The Fantastics, Our Town, Antigone, As You Like It, The Crucible, To Kill a Mockingbird, Hay Fever, Great Expectations, Under Milkwood, The Dining Room, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Peter Pan, Pericles, and Blood Wedding. Scripts are often created by a playwright to meet ETC’s specific requirements.
    In addition, workshops are offered in directing, playwriting, musical theater, stage combat, makeup, scene painting, the Alexander technique, Shakespeare and his world, neutral mask, and sound design.

Enrollment

Students who are between the ages of 14 and 18 come from a variety of backgrounds—from those who are seasoned veterans to beginners. Each student receives an evaluation at the end of the summer, which serves as the basis for a college recommendation written by the director. ETC students have gone on to study at such colleges and universities as Amherst, Barnard, Boston University, Brown, Carnegie-Mellon, Columbia, Davidson, Emerson, Georgetown, Harvard, Juilliard, Kenyon, Lewis & Clark, Oberlin, Penn State, Sarah Lawrence, Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, Tulane, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Vassar, Wesleyan, and Yale. Some students have been awarded academic credit by their high schools for the work they do at ETC.

Daily Schedule

The weekly schedule allots time for study, rehearsal, relaxation, and household duties.

8:00
8:30
8:50
9:30
11:00
1:30
1:50
3:00
5:00
6:00
7:45
10:45
11:30

Breakfast
Household responsibilities
Warm-Ups
Class I: Acting or Program Time
Class II: Movement
Journal Writing or Reflective Time
Class III: Acting or Music
Rehearsal
Dinner Preparation or Rest
Dinner
Rehearsal or Tech Work
Group Unwinding
Bedtime

Facilities

Ensemble Theatre Community School makes its home in the Players’ Lodge, across from the town green. Students live dormitory style, in the same house as the interns and faculty members.

Staff

The unusual opportunity for students to live cooperatively in the same home with professional faculty members assures that the learning process is ongoing. Discoveries are made in class, on stage, and in the kitchen. The faculty is joined by college interns, who participate in all aspects of the program, and by visiting professionals, who conduct workshops in their specialties.

Costs

The total cost, including room and board, is $4500. Financial aid may be provided in two forms—grants to the family (tuition remission) and extended payment plans. Most financial aid awards combine the two forms. Students should inquire about financial aid upon application. Resources are limited, so early application is recommended.

Application Timetable

Both beginners and experienced students are encouraged to apply. Space is limited, so early application is advised. Any applications received by March 30, the early application deadline, are reviewed upon arrival, with admission notification by April 30. Applications received after March 30 may be accepted for any remaining openings.