Community Corner
Free Acting Program for Kids at Hempsted Houses
The Hempsted Houses are looking for six to eight middle school or high school students to portray people who lived and worked in New London in the 1700s and 1800s.
Students will be trained by Tammy Denease, a nationally known performance artist (http://historicalfirsts.org), and will perform at several events this summer – most of them at the historic site in New London.
Denease specializes in bringing to life important yet “obscured” women in history. They include Bessie Coleman (first internationally licensed pilot in the world), Elizabeth Keckly (a former enslaved woman who worked at Lincoln’s White House), and Sarah Margru (an Amistad captive).
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Classes will be from 1-4 p.m. on Saturdays from May 3 to June 7 at the Hempsted Houses, a Connecticut Landmarks historic site at 11 Hempstead St. in New London. The 1678 Joshua Hempsted House is the oldest in New London and one of New England’s best-documented dwellings.
The students’ first performance will be June 14, during Connecticut Open House Day at Hempsted. The deadline for applying is April 25. Students don’t need to be residents of New London.