{"id":18002,"date":"2013-08-30T14:07:36","date_gmt":"2013-08-30T18:07:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=18002"},"modified":"2013-09-16T14:22:31","modified_gmt":"2013-09-16T18:22:31","slug":"students-make-as-you-like-it-creatively-their-own-at-two-week-camp-culminating-in-show-aug-28-30-and-31","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2013\/students-make-as-you-like-it-creatively-their-own-at-two-week-camp-culminating-in-show-aug-28-30-and-31\/","title":{"rendered":"Students make ‘As You Like It’ creatively their own at two-week camp, culminating in show, Aug. 28, 30 and 31"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Izzy Howard, it\u2019s hard to choose between her passion for play writing and her love of performing.<\/p>\n

Lucky for her, she doesn\u2019t have to.<\/p>\n

For the past two years, the 16-year-old Eastern Mennonite High School<\/a> junior has been participating in CrashHouse Collaborative Theater \u2014 a project started in 2008 that allows local high school students to insert their own voices into Shakespeare\u2019s plays \u2014 as both a writer and actor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can take all the things that I\u2019ve been kind of bottling up over the school year and release all those thoughts,\u201d said Howard, of Port Republic. \u201cIt\u2019s a nice way to get all that creative energy out in something positive.\u201d<\/p>\n

In June, Howard was one of nine local students who helped to deconstruct Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cAs You Like It\u201d during a two-week-long camp. The group members reflected on the original script daily through journals, interjecting their own ideas and stories. During the month between the end of the camp and the start-date for performances, local playwright and Eastern Mennonite University alum Pam Mandigo crafts a new version of the script using the students\u2019 input.<\/p>\n

Each camp participant can see bits of his or her work in the final product. For example, though \u201cAs You Like It\u201d is originally set in the forest, the CrashHouse version takes place in a desert, thanks to Howard.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s sensational,\u201d she said simply.<\/p>\n

On Aug. 28, 30 and 31, Howard will have the chance to see her work on stage, from the stage \u2013Thomas Plaza, in this case. The performances start at 7:30 p.m. each evening.<\/p>\n

Bringing down the house
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

The idea for CrashHouse came about when Mandigo and Heidi Winters Vogel<\/a>, associate professor of theater at EMU, saw a similar concept played out at a theater conference in Atlanta with \u201cKing Lear\u201d as the subject.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe decided we wanted to do something similar in Harrisonburg,\u201d explained Mandigo, 27, who\u2019s currently living in Boston.<\/p>\n

The team got to work on writing grant proposals for the project and found a financial sponsor \u2014 the Arts Council of the Valley<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That first summer, only three high school students came out. Since then, that number has grown to nearly 10 participants every June. Although the camp has consisted of all girls most years, it\u2019s guy-friendly, as well.<\/p>\n

The camp takes place for about five hours everyday for two weeks. Throughout that time, the student writers work on theater games, improv and a host of writing exercises, including the daily journals. Guest artists, from musicians to dance teachers to improv gurus, visit the group during the camp.<\/p>\n

During the first week of classes at EMU, a group of the CrashHouse camp participants, EMU students and alumni bring the script to life. This year, two camp-goers returned to act out the Frankenstein script.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m learning that each summer is a different beast; each group of CrashHouse participants wants to do something different with it,\u201d Mandigo said.<\/p>\n

She was surprised when this year\u2019s group became fixated on a subplot in \u201cAs You Like It:\u201d a boy who just won\u2019t take the hint and realizes that his love interest isn\u2019t, well, interested.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the stuff they wrote was just amazing and hilarious and heart-wrenching,\u201d Mandigo said, explaining that the original play ends with the couple marrying. Spoiler alert: In the CrashHouse version, a giant snake eats the heart-struck male.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be funnier,\u201d she said of the newest adaptation.<\/p>\n

Hooked on CrashHouse<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amanda Chandler, the director of the play this year, returned to the project after acting in \u201cMidsummer Night\u2019s Dream ReDreamed\u201d last CrashHouse season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really liked that the girls who participated in CrashHouse had the opportunity to see their work produced in a full-production and to be able to relate to Shakespeare in that way,\u201d said Chandler, 21, an EMU senior from Mount Clinton.<\/p>\n

She also commended Mandigo, saying she \u201cdid a really good job of making [the script] accessible and understandable and keeping the story intact, but still putting it in the words of the girls who did CrashHouse.\u201d<\/p>\n

The style keeps participants returning for more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoy acting just for the interaction; I enjoy the process and the workshops for more of my quiet creativity,\u201d explained Howard, who said she will most likely return to CrashHouse next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cCrashHouse is very dear to my heart, so I\u2019ll fit it in hopefully,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Courtesy Daily News Record, August 29, 2013<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Izzy Howard, it\u2019s hard to choose between her passion for play writing and her love of performing. Lucky for her, she doesn\u2019t have to. 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