Summertime hit: Easthampton Theater Company’s free program opens stage to youth

EASTHAMPTON — For the second year, the Easthampton Theater Company hosted a two-week theater class with the help of state funding, growing in a way the company could never have imagined to help children learn all about theater.

The ETC organized and managed the two-week theater course, largely funded by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation Summer Nights program. Additional funding came from the Easthampton Cultural Council, Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts and ETC itself.

The Summer Nights program was launched in 2015 to provide funding for programs aiming to offer young people in urban areas aged 13-21 the opportunity to participate in recreational and educational activities during evening hours. Through the program, organizations and groups create camps and opportunities that aim to foster community engagement and personal development for young people in the summer months.

ETC Co-Founder and President Michael Budnick said the Summer Nights program offered the perfect opportunity to form an engaging theater course for children in Easthampton.

“We wanted to put together a youth program for theater that is a little bit different from usual because most theater companies in the summer are focused on presenting a large musical or play as the end point of the summer,” said Budnick. “We thought there was a need for a program that was an intro to a whole bunch of different components of theater.”

The two-week course welcomed about 55 participants ages 12 to 17, split between two different groups for each week. Classes took place from 6 to 9 p.m. each weeknight for two weeks in July at the Williston Northampton School Theater, giving children the opportunity to take advantage of their summer nights. ETC has previously partnered with the Williston Northampton School, having performed productions in the 250-seat, black-box theater.

“We are incredibly excited to be using the space for the community and it is heartwarming to have the space be used for such an engaging program,” said Williston Director of Summer Programs Kevin Burke.

While there were certain activities that repeated for the classes such as the student favorite monologue practice and theater games, each night, ETC brought in a specialist for different components of theater to teach a lesson. Budnick emphasized that theater involves a variety of elements that are important to learn including costume design, lighting, props, management and more.

“Theater is not just being on stage,” Budnick said. “Theater involves many different aspects: technical, stage management, costuming. Many kids are not just interested in being actors.”

The many aspects of theater taught by specialists at the course included costume design, lighting, prop construction, stage management and direction, and the course hosted an actor/dancer who previously preformed on Broadway, to speak and answer questions through Zoom.

For example, for the lighting lesson, participants would look at different colored blocks under blue and red lights to see how the lighting would distort and affect colors onstage.

ETC Vice President Eva Husson-Stockhamer explained the importance of bringing in multiple professionals and role models for children to learn from.

“What I love about this program is that we take kids from all different areas and they come here without ever meeting,” said Husson-Stockhamer. “We put them together in different groups and they form friendships … That to me shows that they make nice comradery outside of their school.”

One of the key aspects to the program is to provide underserved youth a free opportunity to participate and learn, according to Budnick and Husson-Stockhamer. Participants come from across the area, including Easthampton, Chicopee, Holyoke, Westfield and Springfield. Additionally, the program provides opportunities for children who do not have access to theater programs at their schools.

“I really like how everyone here, we’re all at different experience levels,” said Sophia Murdzia, a course participant and student at West Springfield Middle School. “We are able to come in and you can learn something from anyone. I’m relatively new to the theater world but being able to see people with that kind of experience is really great.”

Murdzia has participated in both years of the course and previously worked in the front of house for ETC productions.

Along with his role as president of ETC, Budnick also is the executive director of Mad Science, a center for children providing programs, classes and parties to learn about science, located in Springfield. Last year, the theater program was funded through Mad Science through its Summer Nights grant, before Budnick and ETC were able to secure their own funding through the program.

The theater company never anticipated the growth of the course, almost tripling the number of participants they hosted this year — roughly 55 — compared to 21 last year. While the group plans to grow the program in the future, it is only part of the expansive community growth of ETC.

“Easthampton Theater company was a (COVID-19) pandemic vision that came into fruition in 2022,” Budnick said. “It was a glimmer in my eye in 2021 and then I started talking to other people about it and then we launched our first production.”

Budnick and Husson-Stockhamer met when they were both pitching shows to the same organization in Westfield. They talked about the potential for a theater company in Easthampton, a place with no theater organization at the time.

“When we first conceived of Easthampton Theater Company we knew we wanted to do as part of our mission educational outreach,” said Budnick. “One of the youth programs that we looked at is this Summer Night’s program.”

Since its conception, ETC has organized and performed five plays, giving theater lovers from the community the opportunity to get involved and participate, according to Budnick. One of the participants from this year’s course, Jaxon Reddy, who attends the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts School in South Hadley, acted in one of the company’s past productions, “The Man Who Came to Dinner.”

“I got involved in theater with the Easthampton Theater Company with the play,” Reddy said. “I have loved theater ever since.”

Sam Ferland can be reached at sferland@gazettenet.com.