Collins Players, a Tufts Children's Theater group for students in grades seven through 12, has once again begun rehearsals for the 2013-2014 academic year. The children and young adults in the program will showcase their work with a full-length performance of Willy Wonka Junior" this March.
Founded in 1995, Collins Players aims to inspire creativity and confidence among young actors by focusing on improvisation and character development. It began as an offshoot of the now-defunct Tufts Scene Study group, according to Joanne Barnett, theater manager and executive director of Tufts Children's Theater.
Collins Players also serves as an extension of the Magic Circle Theater summer program, which lasts for six weeks during the summer and culminates in three public performances of students' work. When the summer is over, Collins Players fills the gap in children's theater-related programming at Tufts.
Barnett described the impetus for creating the program.
"It [started] at a time when there were a lot of cuts to local high school theater and art departments," she said. "There was virtually nothing in public schools for middle school kids."
A lack of funding for arts programs in schools continues today, according to Luke Jorgensen, the artistic director and one of two teachers for Collins Players. Almost all of the students participating in the program come from different schools, he said, but many of those schools do not provide any type of artistic program or outlet for their students.
Even though most participants in Collins Players live in close proximity to Medford, Somerville and Cambridge, there is no lack of diversity within the group.
"The students are all from different backgrounds
