In both Port Townsend and Chimacum, Key City Public Theatre will start new classes for elementary and middle school-age youngsters next week.

Full and partial scholarships are available, said Brendan Chambers, KCPT’s artistic associate and lead instructor of the youth programs.

“One thing that’s great about this,” he added, “is students get an opportunity to be creative with their fellow students. They get to get up on their feet and have some storytelling happen.”

After-school Theater Adventure Club, Drama II and Musical Theatre/Drama III are all offered at the Quimper Grange, 1219 Corona St., Port Townsend, beginning next Wednesday and Thursday and running through mid-March.

At the Chimacum Grange, 9572 Rhody Drive, two Theater Adventure Club sessions will start next Monday: one for third- through sixth-graders and one for seventh- and eighth-graders.

Details about each program can be found at www.keycitypublictheatre.org.

These hour-long classes are kept small, at 10 to 15 students depending on the age group. Beginners are encouraged, said Chambers, who teaches with co-instructors Maggie Bulkley and Bry Kifolo.

In Theater Adventure Club, students play theater games that explore improvisation, voice, movement, storytelling and mime, all in a low-pressure environment, Chambers noted, adding his team provides plenty of introductory work for first-timers.

Kids who attend Chimacum Elementary and Chimacum Junior High have the option of meeting at the school’s flagpole right after school. Key City staff will meet them and walk over to the grange hall, where parents can pick them up after class.

Key City seeks to offer something that’s not available on the Chimacum campus itself: a chance to explore drama and theater with a team of professional theater artists, Chambers said.

During the past two school years, “there’s been a lot of virtual learning, a lot of distancing. In these classes the students are able to collaborate as a group,” with COVID safety protocols in place.

For more information about Key City, whose playhouse is being remodeled, visit the website, email info@keycitypublictheatre.org or phone 360-379-0195.

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Jefferson County senior reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz@peninsuladailynews.com.