The Kids are Alright

Last week meant a tough slog through summer camp at Creative Spark, where I taught audition techniques for a week. Okay, I was only working an hour and a half per day, but the kids still kept me very busy and wore me out.

Based in one of the wealthier parts of town (Mt. Pleasant), Creative Spark runs all kinds of activities for children and I felt a little trepidatious getting involved. After all, one my first experiences of working with children back in the late '80s involved some sullen punk on rollerskates giving me a fat lip. How would I respond these days to such unpleasantness?

Fortunately I had a great bunch of students who were well-behaved and engaged. I was tough on them (Nick quote: "I don't think the lion would be smiling when it got shot, Katie,") and I tried not to talk down to them. Despite the hard work entailed, it was a 99% pleasant experience.

There was only one mar: I used a scene from Labyrinth for a few of our on-camera sessions where some of the children portrayed goblins. These are cute, snaggly Jim Henson muppet-type goblins, mind.

One of the parents complained about said content because of his/her religious convictions. Apparently, goblins are an existing threat in that family's chosen theology. My own conviction is that the goblins are fictional characters, which begs the question: why send a child to an acting course if they're not allowed to fantasize?