Aspiring student actors in Dolores received some professional training this week from the Creede Repertory Theater.
Acting instructor Johamy Morales conducted a 2-day workshop for students in drama teacher Pete Swingle's theater troupe.
The drama club is in its second year and is gaining steam, but needs guidance on delivery and team-building. They will perform a two-act comedy, "Horatio Will be Late" Dec. 6, 7, 13, and 14. Saturday shows are at 7 p.m. and Sunday shows are at 2 p.m.
"We're really appreciating Morales' training," Swingle said. "She's building confidence for students and showing them that everyone is part of telling the story, not just the speakers."
Morales' works on melding the group to focused on a common goal. During one exercise, a ball is randomly tossed back and forth among group members as they recite lines.
"When the ball is dropped on stage, you lose energy, and the audience loses belief in your character," she says. "If you mess up, don't break character, stay in control and continue."
In a milling exercise students wander in a group and find an open space all while gradually transforming themselves into an animal of choice.
The entire cast is an ensemble, Morales continues, encouraging students to deliver their lines with a physical presence.
"Repress your shyness, release your fears," she says. "Hold your head up, don't apologize, dropping energy and focus is a disservice to all of your hard work."
Assistant director Molly Cumpton, a junior, says the cast and crew for the upstart theater program are very dedicated.
"Everyone is working hard to give their best," she says. "This workshop is helping us come together as a cast. We're getting good points of view on character development."
Swingle is optimistic about the new theater program at Dolores Schools. The drama class is filling up fast, and nobody is turned away for performances.
"We find a role for everyone, whether acting, costumes, dancers, singers, set building, audio and lights, directing," he said. "It's getting around how much fun we're having."
An anonymous $10,000 donation got the drama program going last year. The same donor chipped in another $10,000 for a modern sound system for the theater department.
The upcoming play is a "realistic comedy" about a theater group bumbling an attempt at performing Hamlet, explained eighth-grade actor Cael McHenry.
"It's a play within a play, so we get to double up on our character," McHenry said. "The audience will love the humor of it."
Explains playwright Burton Bumgarner, "Chaos reigns as actors upstage each other, miscue each other, and finally end up in a big fight."
The play about all the crazy things that can go wrong in a performance resonates with the students, assistant director Cumpton says.
"This is our first big production," she explains. "Last year was our first play, so we can really relate to the struggles that this one is about."
jmimiaga@cortezjournal.com