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from actors on stage to crew members behind the scenes.

“The purpose of the program is to give young people an outlet where they can bring their talents to the forefront,” says Mark Semmelmayer, a board member.

The youth spend about 10 weeks preparing for their production, beginning with auditions in May.

“Everyone who auditions makes it,” Kavanaugh says. “You’re not guaranteed a speaking part, but you’re guaranteed to be on stage a lot.”

The productions chosen each year provide the opportunity for a large number of actors to be on stage, to ensure many students get to have that experience.

“We try to pick a show that has a lot of speaking parts and has a lot of characters because we want as many characters as possible in our show,” Kavanaugh says. “That gives our kids a lot more opportunity to be on stage, to speak, to sing. It’s all about the kids.”

Rehearsals begin the first week of June each year, and the student actors put on a show each July.

The Island Players’ youth-focused programs also allow older students to mentor younger ones, Kavanaugh says.

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“The older children work with the younger children, so the ones that have been around a lot, they learn from them,” she says. “And Mr. Jeff Dempsey is our director, and he is amazing working with these kids. He’s been on stage forever, since he could walk.”

Dempsey also participated in the Young People’s Summer Workshop when he was young, she says, and learned from Joan Harris, a longtime leader and educator for the workshop and the Island Players.

The program fits nicely into the Island Players’ overall goal of promoting the local arts, Semmelmayer says.

“It is a very concerted community effort to keep theatre arts alive and well in the Golden Isles, to give kids an opportunity to explore something they might not otherwise have a chance to explore,” he says.

The Island Players also raises money for an annual youth scholarship program for students planning to study performing arts at the collegiate level.

Kavanaugh hopes the workshop’s participants end the summer excited about their experience.

“We also hope they learn stage presence and that they have more confidence when they leave,” she says. “They’ll know how to make friends, and we hope that they’ve met people they would never met if they hadn’t been there.”

In a world of cellphones and screens, it’s beneficial for young people to have this kind of social experience, she says.

“This is a face-to-face experience that helps learn those social skills and how to use your voice,” she says.

• The Island Players’ Young People’s Summer Workshop will stage “Willy Wonka, Jr.,” July 12-23 at the Casino Theater, 550 Beachview Dr., St. Simons Island. Tickets for the show can be purchased in advance online at www.theislandplayers.com.