CARROLL GARDENS — Ever wonder whether the Montagues and Capulets should have just settled things with a water balloon fight?
A new theater camp is giving kids a chance to dive into the world of Shakespeare and some of his most famous plays in Carroll Gardens next month.
The New Collectives will host the camp at Court Tree Collective, located at 371 Court St., from July 20 to July 24 for students in second to sixth grade, organizers said.
Giverny Petitmermet, 30, an actress, was first introduced to Shakespeare as a 12-year-old during a summer camp in California, which ”turned me into a Shakespeare nerd forever,” she said.
The four instructors who make up the New Collectives — Sarah Moore, Dan Morrison, Mara Gannon and Petitmermet — also taught at the summer camp and are now bringing the concept to Brooklyn.
The New Collectives, which performed an adaptation of “Macbeth” at Court Tree Collective last year, decided to open the camp to young children after Petitmermet began telling Shakespeare’s plays as stories to a 6-year-old girl she babysits.
The weeklong camp seeks to introduce children to The Bard while also making his work easy to understand through theater games, art projects and resources like the “Shakespeare Can Be Fun!” series.
“When anybody first approaches a Shakespeare, it’s in an English class and it’s in a way that feels very inaccessible,” Petitmermet said.
During the five days, three will be spent focusing on three different plays: “Twelfth Night,” “Romeo and Juliet” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
Some of the activities include “clown work” for "Twelfth Night" and a water balloon fight between the two rival families of "Romeo and Juliet."
And the group won’t shy away from the tragic elements in the tale of the star-crossed lovers. One of the reasons the play was selected was because the deaths portrayed are accidental and not a result of revenge.
“Kids are more aware and OK with death than I think most parents are willing to admit,” Petitmermet said, pointing to series like “The Hunger Games” and “Harry Potter,” both of which feature deaths of prominent characters.
If the camp is successful, the New Collectives will consider creating an after-school program in the fall.
The camp is priced at $370 per student, with an after-camp session that’s $40 per day. To register, visit the website.
