Tina Cody tells of the drama behind putting on a digital play.
Tina Cody tells of the drama behind the digital play, Help Desk.
When working within the confines of current safety regulations to present a digital play put together entirely through Zoom, the set phrase “the show must go on” takes on an unexpected layer of meaning and difficulty. Putting on a play at the best of times requires dedication and hours of work.
Tina Cody
And yet within the struggle, we of the ACS Drama Club were reminded of the beauty that stems from such frustrations, that theatre is inherently adaptive, reactive, and reflective of the time we find ourselves in, and reveals to us our truest selves in the face of adversity.
Plays can often take years to develop, require fabulous set designs, have numerous players both on and off stage and, ideally, share a room with an audience. At the end of the day, though, all you really need to make a play work is a craving to create, brought into being by a human voice or two. So...what was it like to put on a fully online theatre production?
Auditions
Auditions are a notoriously stressful time for student actors, but can you imagine auditioning on Zoom? Students signed up for an audition slot via QR code, and they joined the zoom call at their appropriate audition time and prepared a comedic monologue. From there, I provided suggestions for each student to utilise their body, voice and elements of Zoom (e.g. proximity to the camera) to increase comedic effect. The goal was to see how students were able to express big emotions 'through' a screen, instead of 'to' a screen.
The rehearsal process
Help Desk is a collection of 12 scenes with two to four students per scene. We created a rehearsal schedule that worked best for our students and rehearsed daily in small groups utilising break-out rooms, so that two groups of students could practise at once. We gathered our props, chose the perfect backdrop in our homes and assembled our costumes (with more than a little help from the PSO!)
Once all of our materials were gathered and lines memorised, each scene partner met in their own Zoom room without me and recorded their Zoom call. Student actors recorded each scene at least four times and chose their best work for the final product.
And finally, I assembled each video file into one long drama production! Once that was completed, I worked with Mr Salman and Ms Kelli to organise a YouTube livestream so that all ACS students could watch the show at the same time.
Opening 'night'
It was the last day before winter break and all of our student actors were equally excited and nervous to showcase their hard work to the student body. Nerves ran high with potential technical difficulties, but the show went off without a hitch, and spurts of laughter and applause could be heard echoing down the halls for all to enjoy!
And last but not least, ACS Drama Club sends a special thank you to Mr Furness, Mr Salman, Ms Kelli, PSO and the marketing team for your help with Help Desk!
Future productions
I am working with Ms Caroline and Mr Trevor to come up with alternative performance options to keep our actors safe and healthy. We are considering a variety of ideas from outdoor experiences or mini station performances, where the audience moves around the school for site-specific scenes.
Regardless of the format, we are hoping to engage our international student body to help us generate a script that showcases spooky stories and legends from around the world!
If your country has a scary myth or legend, please contact me at ccody@acs-schools.com!
Either way, the show must go on!