
The last of three summer camps organized by The Viola Project is called “Much Ado About Nothing” and it will take place from Aug. 5-9 at Austin Gardens.
Preceding this final Shakesperean-themed camp for Oak Park-area girls and young women ages 10-16 were the Villain Camp and Queen Camp. Each of the week-long camps place a focus on empowering young people to grow individually through a challenging yet fun curriculum.
See for yourself just what a Viola Project camp entails by viewing a student montage video…
Taking lessons from one of Shakespeare’s most famous comedies, the “Much Ado About Nothing” camp places a high level of focus on the exchange of information and how we can become more effective communicators in the age of social media and the internet.
“We want our students to learn the importance of how to discern real information from fake news,” said Program Director Rebecca Duman.
She continued by providing an example of reviewing the behavior of the play’s lead, Claudio, who throws a temper tantrum after receiving news that his fiancĂ© had been cheating on him. Similar to modern life, it’s not uncommon for a person to hear or read about something that isn’t necessarily true and react in a way that negatively impacts the individual’s life.

The Viola Project’s Villain Camp is currently open for enrollment but it will cap the attendance at a total of 18 in order to ensure that each camper gets the individual attention that she deserves.
“Much Ado About Nothing” will last a total of five days from Aug. 5-9. The day camp runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day at Austin Gardens with drop-offs beginning as early as 8:30 a.m.
You can apply online right now at https://www.violaproject.org/oak-park-camps-2019. Pricing for the camp is $375 per child/young teen. Scholarships and financial assistance are available on a case-by-case basis.