Civic center to host creative playmaking camp for youths

The Magnolia Civic Center will host a Creative Playmaking Summer Camp in July.

Creative Playmaking is a week-long playwriting and puppet-making workshop devised and led by Teaching Artist Aliza Moran for students ages 12 and up.

Sessions will be from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. July 19 – 23, according to civic center manager Emily Draffen.

Kids will collaborate on creating a play from scratch. The unique process will focus on character creation, exploration, and the crafting of their very own puppets that will be used to express the story they make together.

Aliza Moran has a BFA from the University of Memphis in Theatre Performance and an M.A in Educational Theatre in Colleges and Communities from NYU. At NYU, she studied abroad in Ireland and the UK studying Theatre for Young Audiences and devising processes within foreign communities.

Moran has been an arts educator and community collaborator for 15-plus years within the Memphis community. Previously, she worked as the drama teacher and after school site coordinator for Hillcrest High School in Whitehaven, Tenn.

Prior to that she was the Operations Manager for the Department of Outreach and Education at Theatre Memphis.

Her work at Theatre Memphis included administrative, curriculum development and facilitation, tour direction and designer for ShoWagon, teaching artist, and performer. She has collaborated with community partners such as Thistle & Bee, The Urban Art Commission, RedZone Ministries, Shelby County Schools, The Grizzlies Foundation TeamUP Mentoring Program, and the University of Memphis.

Not only an educator, Moran is a local performer who has been invested in the arts community since the early 2000s. She continues to produce and support new theatrical experiences by collaborating with local Memphis artists, educators, community organizations, and creatives.

Currently, Aliza is the Director of Les Passees Kids on the Block (an educational puppet troupe).

During the workshop, students will rehearse their play and give a free public performance on Friday, July 23 at 5:30 p.m. on the Ciné Theater stage.

This project is made possible in part by UNITE Community Foundation.

There’s also a link to the Facebook event with some info here: https://www.facebook.com/events/161584559253992/?ref=newsfeed

Cost is $100 per student and includes snacks, puppet making materials and a puppet to take home. Call 662-539-3909 to register.