Teen scenes

SOLDIER ants march off to explore the New World -- a.k.a. the kitchen -- for sugary treasure to satisfy their queen’s sweet tooth. Villainous insects such as Genghis Mantis, a praying mantis, and Big Daddy Longlegs, a hip-hop spider, intercede.

And “G.I. Ants,” a children’s show presented by Cal State Northridge’s 47th annual TeenAge Drama Workshop today through July 31, is staged on a set resembling an oversized kitchen filled with giant cereal boxes and dishes.

Created by theater pros Doug Kaback and composer Irwin Appel (with set design by David Weiss), this hip-hop, reggae and salsa flavored musical romp is one of four productions presented by 12- to 18-year-olds.

“G.I. Ants” and “The Little Mermaid,” a Disneyish spoof, are for the younger crowd. The group’s truncated but traditional staging of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and its “Ten Minute Play Festival” -- 16 original, serious-themed works by students -- are for older children and teens.

Kaback, who has directed the workshop for the past seven years, said that the 10-minute plays “allow kids to work on material that might be a little closer to the kinds of realities that they know. Some of the material is not suitable for young children.”

The shows are the culmination of an intense, six-week, summer stock-style program in which teenagers work with directors and designers and university students on performing, writing and technical skills.

“The challenge for me,” Kaback says, “is helping them appreciate the rigor and the stamina that’s required to be a theater artist. For many, this is a new experience, to be working this hard at something, but I think it’s so enjoyable that they don’t really translate it as hard work, even though they may be working harder than they ever have in their lives.”

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TeenAge Drama Workshop

* “The Little Mermaid”: 7 p.m. today; 11 a.m. Friday; 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday; 11 a.m. Wednesday and July 30

* “G.I. Ants”: 2 p.m. today; 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 11 a.m. Wednesday and July 30

* “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”: 7 p.m. today; 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m. Saturday

* “Ten Minute Play Festival”: 7 p.m. Wednesday and July 31

Where: Cal State Northridge, Nordhoff Hall, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge

Price: $8; $6 for seniors and ages 14 and under

Info: (818) 677-2488