For its second consecutive year, Shake on the Lake is collaborating with The College at Brockport to host its children’s summer Shakespeare camp known as the Groundlings Program. Though the program has been held in various locations throughout Western New York before, it will again return to Brockport thanks to a partnership with Delta College.
Youth ages nine to 18 are eligible to work with professional actors in a five-day summer theatre intensive that will run from July 22 through 26. The camp will culminate in a final performance that will open for Shake on the Lake’s summer touring show in Brockport on the July 26.
This year’s featured teaching artist is Vincent Mraz, whose work has been seen at Dixon Place, The Dallas Solo Festival, Harlem Nights, and more. Mraz holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College and currently teaches acting at Manhattanville College. For Shake on the Lake, he has played the roles of Malvolio in Twelfth Night and Benvolio in Romeo & Juliet; and has been Set Designer for The Tempest, Romeo & Juliet, and this year’s As You Like It. Mraz is returning for his second year as the lead Teaching Artist of the Groundlings Program.
Other professional actors from around the country, including Shake on the Lake Artistic Director Josh Rice, will also be teaching alongside Mraz.
“The Brockport Groundlings program excites me because, as an alum of SUNY Brockport and the Delta College, I get to go back to the place that inspired me to become a theatre artist, and in turn, use what I’ve learned to hopefully inspire future theatre artists,” stated Rice. “I feel grateful to have the opportunity to give back to a community that gave me so much.”
Now in its eighth season, the company is re-imagining community engagement with its summer Shakespeare tours through Western New York. This year’s summer season show is the musical comedy As You Like It .
“I’m excited about our 2019 tour of As You Like It for a number of reasons,” commented Rice. “The main one being the strong female protagonist in Rosalind. She’s savvy, intelligent, and emotionally more mature than most of her onstage counterparts. Having audiences, especially younger audience members, see themselves represented on stage in this way, is important in 2019. This will be our most musically ambitious show to date, and a fun way to spend an evening outdoors in the summer.”
Spots at the Groundlings Program can be reserved online or by contacting
shakeonthelake@gmail.com. Tuition is $150; no acting experience is required.
Provided information
