376 Bridgehampton/Sag Harbor Turnpike, P.O. Box 316, Bridgehampton, NY 11932

631-537-8250

Q&A With Leah Oppenheimer About Campamento de Teatro

This summer, the Children’s Museum was thrilled to host two separate weeks of Campamento de Teatro (“Theatre Camp”) for Latino children living in the East End. Made possible by a generous grant from the Century Arts Foundation, the camp was designed to promote the importance of the performing arts and their role in facilitating social change. We recently spoke with the Museum’s Director of Community Outreach, Leah Oppenheimer, about what the kids learned during the camp, the importance of this program, and how she hopes to build on this experience.

Can you tell us a little about Campamento de Teatro and what kids learned during the program?

We ran two, 5-day programs for approximately 30 Latino kids, in which they learned how to write, express, and give voice to and their identify, concerns, and dreams.

The first week had a very formal theatre structure. We did body movement, voice training, writing…all with an eye towards putting on small skits and an actual performance. The whole thing culminated in “Changing Times, Changing Minds.” Completely written and acted by the campers, their goal was to have people empathize with their situation and hopefully give up being so angry at and dejecting of Latinos. It was deeply poignant. The second week of camp built upon the lessons of the first, but incorporated learning how to use Apple software to create a series of videos.

Why are programs like this so important for the East End’s Latino population, especially children?

These kids are deeply sensitive to the current political situation. They’re concerned they’ll lose their parents to deportation, they’re concerned about their level of acceptance in the local community. They’re concerned about the insecurity of their futures. 99% of the kids in the camp have mothers who are cleaning ladies. The’re already acutely aware of their perceived place in the social structure of the East End. One of our main goals with “Campamento de Teatro” was to help them see that they have possibilities and their futures are still wide open.

How do you hope to build this program?

It would be incredible to develop this into a continued creative outlet for the kids, something they could really own. I’d love to start a magazine with them. Their writing was so thoughtful and touching and honest. These kids have a lot to say and I want to continue coming up with ways to make sure they get heard.

Translate »