Noozhawk’s ParentNooz Camp Guide is officially here and we made sure to make things easy when planning your child’s summer!
To give parents the tools to help make informed decisions about Summer Camps for their kids in Santa Barbara, Noozhawk has conducted a series of interviews with representatives of local programs for this year’s Summer Camp Guide.
In this interview, Noozhawk spoke with Mathew Tavianini, Managing Director at Boxtales Theatre Company to learn more about the summer programs they are offering this year.
Boxtales Theatre Company
Question: What is the name and focus of your camp or program?
Answer: This camp is called Boxtales Summer Theatre TEEN Camp 2023.
The focus of this years camp in addition to training in the Boxtales’ method, will be to collaborate and devise a theatrical production based on the epic story of The Arabian Nights.
Q: How long have you been running the program? Do you have any professional accreditations or certifications?
A: Boxtales has been around since 1994. The company has been running its theatre camp program since 2010. Our staff are comprised of professional actors and musicians from the local community with degrees in theater and music.
Q: What goals will the participants be working on to achieve?
A: Boxtales 3-week Summer Camps are an opportunity to go deeper into our unique method. We work for 6 hours a day Monday through Thursday and 3 hours on Friday, and while having a ton of fun, the work tends to be focused and disciplined. The camp includes training in much more than the typical American theatre skills found in other theatre camps offered for youth. The camp staff teach skills found in various multicultural performance traditions. We collaborate with the kids to create a completely original play, based in a myth or folktale and all this happens either at the Lobero or Marjorie Luke theatre, in Santa Barbara, offering kids a rare and powerful experience working in the professional environment of these beautiful theatres.
Q: How would you best describe the educational aspects of your program?
To create an environment where students can learn discipline, take risks, master new skills and overcome their fears. To create an environment where kids develop self-esteem, confidence, and optimism. To create a supportive, collaborative environment children learn compassion, tolerance and how to work creatively with others to solve problems.
Q: Describe the types of activities a child would participate in on a typical day.
A: A typical day would consist of:
Arrival and Check-in
Warm Up
First Lesson
Break
Second Lesson
Lunch
Story Time
Third Lesson
Break
Fourth Lesson
Q: What is the typical age range for your camps?
A: 14-19 years of age.
Q: Do you offer full day and 1/2 day options?
A: No.
Q: What is your policy regarding background checks and training for staff? What is the child to staff ratio?
All of the Boxtales staff have been vetted with background checks and fingerprinting by the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s County Office.
The child to staff ratio is 5 students to 1 teacher.
Q: What is the cost of your camp? Do you offer any scholarships?
$800 for the 3 week session. We do offer scholarships based on financial hardship. There is an application process.
Q: Is there anything you would like to share about your program that was not already mentioned above?
A: Our storytelling training helps us shape a message in the most compelling way for our audience. We work on the arc of the narrative, identify and hone the core or “essence” of the message, and how to make it clear and vivid. Clarifying why your audience should care, and share your excitement, make it matter, make it fascinating, make it meaningful, and make it fun. We believe that to be successful at anything in life, storytelling is essential!
Generally we see that young people learn a great deal about themselves through these programs. The fun, artistic atmosphere allows us to challenge them more than they are used to, and in that challenge they find how far their resolve goes, how they perform under pressure, that they have previously undiscovered leadership skills, as well as a host of other character defining qualities
Click here to learn more about Boxtales Theatre Company!