PLAY Summer Workshop packs Yelm City Park with two performances of ‘Swamped’

Standing Room Only (SRO) Theater has a mission of creating and maintaining a thriving and growing theater presence. It recently built up its organizational goal by hosting and launching its inaugural PLAY Summer Workshop.

For two weeks, the young PLAY Summer Workshop participants trained, rehearsed and prepared to present two performances of “Swamped” on Friday, July 18, and Saturday, July 19, on the Centennial Stage at Yelm City Park. Their hard work paid off, as the youngsters performed their amphibian-themed musical in front of two packed audiences.

Kelly Cornwall, music director of PLAY Summer Workshop’s “Swamped,” was thrilled to see the organization’s vision of expanding the arts of theater to Yelm’s youngest residents come to life.

“This kind of program changes people’s lives. The more that people are willing to come out and volunteer, the more involvement we can have, the better our community will be,” Cornwall told the Nisqually Valley News on Saturday, July 19. “This weekend was fantastic. The children are amazing and phenomenal. They have so much energy and excitement for life, and are willing to do anything that they’re asked to do — including hard things. They did a lot of hard things. It was windy, it was loud, and there was a lot of noise in the park. There were some challenges, and they overcame all of those things and were great.”

Cornwall believes that SRO Theater’s PLAY Summer Workshop isn’t only an opportunity for young residents in the Nisqually Valley region to become involved in theater and drama, but also a chance for the children to showcase their various talents to the community. Along with the platform, the program’s music director believes the two weeks of preparation was an opportunity for participants to overcome the adversity and various struggles of practice.

“They need to show how amazing they are, and this opportunity was the right thing for them. It’s not just about the show, but it’s about the process. The performance is a byproduct of the process, and we worked really hard — especially the Stewards of the Arts and staff — to make sure these kids understand it’s about the process,” Cornwall said. “We did have to do hard things every day, but the more we practice doing these hard things, our resilience builds up. That way, when you do a performance and have to do something hard, we’ve done it before. They’ve experienced the hard parts and know how to handle it.”

The program lasted for two weeks, but the idea of SRO Theater launching a youth program has been prevalent within the local acting group for quite some time. According to Cornwall, the organization has long wanted to create an opportunity for young residents in the community to get involved with the arts of theater — and months of organizational preparation and planning occurred before rehearsals even began.

“When I pitched the idea to SRO Theater to help put this together, they were fully behind this. Then they teamed up with the city, and months and months of planning have gone into this. We wanted to figure out how this would work for our town and our students, and we planned everything to be a two week program,” Cornwall said. “The kids learned things that required them to move and sing and act on stage. They learned how to work with each other, and how to not always be in the spotlight but be a supporting actor.”

Cornwall added that she already has “so many ideas” on how to grow the PLAY Summer Workshop in 2026, but understands it will take some time for the program to establish and grow. She’s hopeful to see SRO Theater continue to grow and develop its opportunities for youth in the area.

“I have so many ideas. My personal vision for this program is so huge, but we have to take baby steps. Next year, we’ll think bigger. Then, the year after that, we’ll think even bigger. Our long-term goal is to make sure we can accommodate any student who wants to be a part of that program, including a show for our older students,” she said. “I just started working with SRO Theater last year, and my hope is that it will expand the program like they did this year by including a children’s program. My hope is that as we continue to invite the children back, they will grow up being appreciative of the arts. I’m very excited and anxious to help SRO Theater expand their circle and their sphere. They have a lot to offer. There’s lots of different shows, and I’m excited to help them with this particular program.”