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Local theater director highlights youth programs, calls for better arts outreach
Summary
Mrs. Clark, a theater director and playwright in Stuart County, described her decades-long work with children's and community theater, encouraged young people to audition for summer camps at Trine and called for improved local communication about arts opportunities.
Mrs. Clark, a theater director and playwright in Stuart County, described her work directing children’s and community theater and said local summer programs at Trine are drawing strong interest, including a wait list for a 10- to 14-year-old camp at Henry Park.
The director told the podcast host Hadley that she has written “probably about 15 scripts” and has staged many productions over roughly 20 years. “My my job is being a theater director and I am also a playwright,” Clark said. She described starting to write at age 12 and producing a first script as a seventh grader.
Why it matters: Clark said theater supports reading and comprehension for children and provides a range of careers beyond performing. “It helps our reading. It helps our comprehension,” she said, adding that theater also offers backstage work in sound, lighting and set design.
Clark described this summer’s program logistics and participation. “We’re doing a show at Trine this summer…we’re gonna take, 34 kids,” she said, and noted that the program for 10- to 14-year-olds has grown from an initial 18 participants to the thirties and now carries a wait list. She also described producing a large earlier show, Fractured Fairy Tales, which she said had nearly 100 cast members and included collaborators from a university for set, lighting and sound design.
Clark traced her approach to youth direction to collaborating with students: when younger performers raised concerns about a scene that felt “kinda mean, kinda bullying,” she said she let them rework it so the scene retained its point without being “so cruel.” She said she balances being directive with encouraging student input: “even though my voice is probably the final voice in a theater production, kids also have a voice in the productions too.”
The interview opened with host Hadley thanking an unnamed grantmaker for providing microphones and biographies used in the podcast; Hadley said the grant “will enhance the quality of this podcast.” Clark urged better communication about arts programs in the community, saying, “I don’t think we get enough communication out into the community to know that this is even going on.”
Clark encouraged prospective young actors and families to audition. “Just come and audition. Just try it,” she said, emphasizing that camps and shows aim to include as many students as space allows. Specific audition dates and application details were not specified in the interview.
The conversation also touched on individual career paths: Clark said her daughter attended Interlochen and the University of Michigan, later worked as an opera singer and in New York as a DJ, and has since trained as a doctor. Clark used that family example to illustrate the range of pathways theater experience can open.
The podcast discussion was an interview and included no formal actions or decisions by public agencies; Clark described ongoing and planned community theater activities and recommended improved outreach so more families and schools learn about them.
