By Indeaki Rune, Y13
As the whole school is busy trying to find ways to learn without endangering students with COVID-19, we wonder how the annual school play might be dealing with such measures. Switzerland has installed new rules which state that singing in a group is no longer allowed as well as group gatherings with more five people. These new measures have an effect on the production of our school’s musical.
This year’s musical, Once On This Island, is a one-act play based on the 1985 novel My Love, My Love. It is set in the French Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea, which is reflected in the music and lyrics originally created by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. The whole musical follows the story of a peasant girl and her experience with the Gods, love, and social classes. A lot of students at school have signed up to participate in the unraveling of this fantastic interpretation of the original Broadway production. So, how will they all be able to participate whilst following Covid restrictions and preserving the integrity of this musical?
Firstly there are the restrictions on being in the same space together with such a big group. Instead of holding practices at school, the students are told to meet online, with students often going off onto smaller branches of a Google Meet to practice scenes together. Online, they are able to have an organised rehearsal while making sure everything is still on track. They also use Flipgrid to record their acting parts so they can get feedback, get other’s opinions, and make sure they are getting the right tone when doing a scene.
On occasion, the students are allowed to practice in person, with small groups of kids finding an area where they can practice together. They usually only do acting in the face-to-face rehearsals while leaving the singing practice online. However, in special situations they are allowed to sing with each other to get the correct tones. This is not recommended, however, since singing allows for Covid to be transferred more easily.
No one is absolutely sure about the future exhibition of the school play. However, there are a couple alternatives before we would completely cancel the play. There is an option to potentially do a spaced out play either in the auditorium, which is far bigger and therefore offers for more space than the usual theatre would. For an even safer option, the directors have been looking into using the Greek Theatre. This would be done outside, reducing the close contact other spaces would inflict, as well as providing a large enough stage for the actors to be safely spaced. This also gives a potentially new and interesting set design to the musical. A play in the Greek Theatre has been long overdue, the play would be a perfect way to kick off using outdoors spaces in future productions. So, overall, the play does seem to be moving along quite well especially with the practices still going on every week – despite being online occasionally. Hopefully the show this year will be put on and all the effort made into its production can be fulfilled.
