In July, Alex Hall attended an intensive Theatre camp in America.

Alex's account of the experience follows:

From the 10th of July to the 6th August 2017, I spent the American summer in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, to complete a 4-week intensive theatre camp (Perry-Mansfield Performance Camp). 

I was in a program called the Young Artists Intensive (YAI), which mostly consisted of kids aged 12 to 16. 

We rehearsed and prepared for a play at the end of the 4 weeks, called Eurydice, a contemporary play based on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, but we also completed individual classes in acting, music, songwriting, script writing, dance and art. A typical day would include most of these, with rehearsals in the evenings.  

Actors were required to attend all classes and rehearsals, and each day was jam-packed with intense, hour-and-fifteen-minute-long classes. We learnt monologues, duets, poetry and dance numbers, and were expected to memorize and perform them in the last week of camp. 

Although many of us went into the YAI with little to no confidence, we emerged with twice that, and not only grew as performers, but also as people, as many of the friends I made there will hopefully be friends for life. 

Perry-Mansfield was also both an inspiring and humbling experience- not every kid was an amazing actor, singer or dancer, and I learnt that there would always be people more talented than me. Part of the theatre industry is accepting that and moving forward and doing what you love with your craft, and I felt that I learnt that at Perry-Mansfield. 

I'm glad I attended the camp, and although there were certainly some ups and downs, overall it was an experience in which I grew so much as a person. 

Editor's note: Alex's grandfather, Bert Halberstadt, sponsored Alex to attend the camp in America.