A Love Letter
Thursday, July 9th, 2026
RAINBOW THEATER circa 5:03pm—The afternoon heat revels in its breezeless glory. The sun shines down and reflects upward off of the bleached earth, evenly toasting campers from all directions. Here in the theater, we are protected by a large shade, though the fact that I can see my shadow here betrays some amount of permeability. I tune my guitar as my fellow teachers arrive for rehearsal.
“Experimento, now rehearsing at the Rainbow Theater,” says Performance Coordinator José Garcia over the PA. He hands the wireless mic back to Tech Lead Momo Calfe Smith who switches off the mic and mutes the channel on the sound board. In the Front row, ASL Instructor Phaedra Kossow-Quin reviews signs with her pupils who sit in a neat row on the stage’s apron. Backstage, just behind the Rainbow, Longsword Instructor Dylan Sears wrangles his foam-wielding padawans.
I review the chord changes with Teen Staff Xing Liang on bass while Teen Staff Oliver settles into a groove on the drum kit. We vamp on E-flat and C7 for a while, and then G minor, C7, F, F7, and repeat. We’re playing “Easy to Be Hard”, not the Three Dog Night version I grew up with, but the original Broadway cast recording from Hair. Momo runs mics to strategic locations as we practice.
Before long we are running the act from the top, young actors singing and moving through swordplay, ASL pupils signing the lyrics. The group stops and starts every 30 seconds or so to receive notes from the various teachers. Thankfully a cool breeze has arrived, undulating the trapezoidal shade like a manta ray.
“You’re gonna come over here and tap his shoulder,” says José to one actor. “Then when this slow-motion thing happens, the swords will chop in front.”
“Okay, switch your swords from your right hand to your left,” adds Dylan. “Take your right hand and touch your heart.”
The rehearsal routine continues for about 30 minutes before the end of the song is finally reached. “Okay, one last time from the top, ready or not!” exclaims José. With 5 minutes left in our rehearsal slot, we brace ourselves for a no-stops runthrough.
TIPI CIRCLE circa 7:14pm—In our post-dinner free time, I’m out in the field to track down some participants from this afternoon’s rehearsal.
“So ‘Experiemento’ is a word for musical theater, but short, like one song,” explains Issa, 12. “Personally I think it’s very underrated; more people should come. I learned how to express myself, and I learned the lyrics to a new song! José is super cool.”
“We get a lot of tips from José,” says Teen Staff Piper, “There’s lots of ways to do things, and there’s always new ways to make it better. Obviously we’re developing singing, and acting skills, cheating out, grabbing attention and so on, but we’re also learning how to receive feedback and building confidence.”
“The Experimento community is very supportive,” says Sparrow, 12. “José says it’s better to be proud and wrong rather than quiet and right. It’s fun because we’re learning multiple things at once: singing, dancing, acting… Even though a lot of kids that go to it are kinda crazy, that just means it’s gonna be more fun.”
“I’m in Experimento for ASL, interpreting the song for the performers,” says Fela, 12. “I like seeing how words can become hand signs. My favorite sign so far is ‘opossum’,” she says, linking her pinkies and swinging one hand below the other. “It’s because they swing from branches with their tails. Phaedra teaches us anything we want to sign as long as it’s appropriate.”
“Dylan is a great longsword teacher,” says Liev, 14. “He is very knowledgeable and gives historical context. For example, I had no idea the German style uses as much of the false side of the sword as it does. It’s weird because it’s basically absent in the Italian style.”
“Next, I’ll tap six for a Beacon of Immortality, bringing my health to 96,” continues Liev, seamlessly switching back to his Magic the Gathering game. “Then I’m going to swing at you with a Blossoming Bog Beast and Aerith Gainsborough.”
“Experimento is cool because we get to sing with friends and practice together,” says Zosia, 11. “I’m learning how to combine acting and singing. You have to follow instructions and run it again and again, but in the end it all comes together.”
“I thought rehearsal went really well,” says José. “Like all young singers, they learn a song, and then once you add movement, they lose track of the pitch and the lyrics. But the kids looked really great, and they wanted to run it over and over, which is great because it means they are really owning it. I’m still working out the ending, maybe a collective ‘ohmmmm’. The title of this act will be ‘A Love Letter to Jah and Wavy’.”
“The kids were focused, engaged, and soulful,” says Dylan. “For me studying swordplay is about figuring out how we interact with each other and ourselves; it’s a laboratory for understanding conflict, both outer and inner. Ultimately it becomes a pathway to peace. The best sword is the one that stays in its scabbard.”
“I love to teach kids about the interpretation process,” says Phaedra. “It’s more than putting the English words in the same order, it’s about pulling out the meaning, and then figuring out the best way to express it. This act is about coming together for a message of peace, and I think that’s kick-ass. Can I say that?”
I ask her to sign “kick-ass” and she obliges by shaking a claw shape in front of her face and quickly switching to a wiggling five shape in front of her chest while nodding with a furrowed expression of deep approval.
RAINBOW THEATER BACKSTAGE circa 9:37pm—The Rainbow and its curtains cast a dark shadow in the bright stagelights, neatly delineating the boundary of invisibility for the waiting performers. On deck, a dozen odd unicyclists wait for the entrance. In the hole, aka in the woodchips of the Tipi Circle, our band of thespians wait in a large clump, all wearing the iconic Experimento red t-shirts emblazoned with the image of an eyeball with an earth for the iris. The excitement is palpable among the campers, who whisper amongst each other.
Soon the unicycles take the stage and we listen as the crowd cheers for their fancy wheelings. The act lasts for the duration of The Beach Boy’s “Surfin’ USA” and one-and-a-half times through of Chuck Berry’s “Rock and Roll Music”.
“Please make welcome Experimento, ASL and Longsword!” announces the emcee as our performers scurry into place. The stage lights come up to reveal a symmetrical arrangement of children in power stances. This act is the final act of the night, and the performers seem proud if not a tiny bit nervous. I sit with the band in the pit, aka the gravel in front of the stage, waiting for our cue. José counts us in.
“How can people be so heartless…”
Stay hydrated,
—J. Payseno, Editor