Hoping to score some free cookies from a Bulldog Days mixer, I walked into LC as a prefrosh and saw a bunch of laughing students in bright purple crewnecks, who I soon found out were part of Yale Children’s Theater. Never would I have thought that this club would become so special to me.
At the mixer, I learned that Yale Children’s Theater (YCT) shares theater with students in grades K-12 in Greater New Haven. They have on-campus and touring productions, an improvisation troupe, and weekly acting workshops.
I used to do theater as a kid but stopped in high school to focus on my other passions, like writing. YCT let me do theater again with kids.
I started by teaching acting and improv workshops to third through fifth graders. There’s nothing like seeing a child light up during a game of Deadly Handshake or seeing kids excited about a game on story structure that you invented on the fly. Every Saturday, we’d act, snack, and act. Then, repeat.
I also joined every student-written play I possibly could, and wrote and directed my own. It’s wild to think that this play, Library Pirate, was three years ago. I still feel as silly as my character Fitz, and I still want to believe that there’s an octopus named Kevin in New York City!
YCT has let me be myself in every way, and be silly, always! It’s truly been the best part of my college experience, and I will forever be grateful.
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