The C.H. Booth Library will be offering its new Improv Theater program for children and young adults starting Tuesday, October 4.To register for Improv & Theater Games or Storymaking, sign up at chboothlibrary.org.

These fun, interactive, and sequential classes will run for six weeks and meet in the library's Meeting Room on October 4, 11, 18, 25, and November 1 and 8.

Improv & Theater Games, for fifth to eighth graders, will be from 2:45 to 4 pm; and Storymaking, for third to fifth graders, will be from 4 to 5 pm.

Both courses will be instructed by Sandy Hook resident Anthony DePoto. Mr DePoto is an actor, director, playwright, and adjunct professor for Western Connecticut State University's Theatre Arts Department. He also is the owner and director of innerAct Theatre, LLC, where he travels all over Connecticut doing theater workshops for schools, business, and companies.

Students do not need any prior acting experience to attend the library's Improv Theater. However, students must attend each week for continuity. The classes will offer educational teachings paired with opportunities to creatively collaborate with other young performers.

For Improv & Theater Games, Mr DePoto will be teaching students how to think on their feet. They will generate ideas by doing various improvisational exercises.

Each student will have created short scripts by the end of the six weeks and perform a variety show for friends and family on the last day.

"This improv class is about kids feeling more confident presenting themselves, whether in a classroom or group setting. It's an ensemble building program," said Mr DePoto.

For the Storymaking classes, participants will learn the basic structure of a play, produce an original story, and present it to a live audience at the end of the program.

"Students will create their own story," Mr DePoto explained. "They'll find out what a beginning is, they'll identify what a rising action is, what a climax is, a falling action, and a resolution. We come up with original characters, as well as identify various themes."

The course will also involve script analysis, where they break down various characters, and learn play writing.

Everyone in the class will have an opportunity to contribute. If a student does not like to be in the limelight and perform, they can still use their talents to help with writing the story or the set design.

"My job is to guide them," Mr DePoto said. "They give the ideas then I put it to paper, but it is their story."

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