TheatreMcLean records play

PANDEMIC PERFORMANCE

TheatreMcLean’s VHSL entry combines in-person and virtual actors

LIA VINCENZO NEWS EDITOR

COVID-19 has canceled countless events this year, but for TheatreMcLean, the show must go on. The Virginia High School League (VHSL) Theater Competition runs from April 14 to May 14, but instead of the usual live performances, each school is sending in a recorded show.

This year, a cast of 11 seniors took part in Vocal Work written by Ed Monk. The show follows radio studio owner Amanda, played by senior Chloe Lahr, as she tries to navigate through a hectic work day after realizing that her husband accidentally took the schedule book home with him the previous night.

Theater teacher and show director Phillip Reid had a lot to consider when choosing the show. It had to be enjoyable and fit into a time limit while allowing the cast and crew to adhere to social distancing measures.

“I wanted to make sure that this show took place in the present COVID time because when we perform on stage and indoors, we have to have our masks on. I didn’t really like the idea of doing a play where we couldn’t address the fact that we’re wearing masks,” Reid said.

Because of its timeliness, they were able to incorporate safety precautions into the show itself.

“There are a couple of times that I have to go over to the mic stand and wipe it down with Clorox wipes, and then sometimes [other actors] take hand sanitizer,” Lahr said.

The pandemic presented several unique obstacles. Due to social distancing requirements, the cast was only able to meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays. But the biggest challenge was acting with masks on.

“We don’t get to see [the actors’] facial expressions, so we’ve had to really change up how they express themselves with more physical movements and more physicality, rather than small facial twitches,” Reid said.

In order to adapt, Reid put extra emphasis on body language.

“I would sit in the very back of the theater, and if I could understand and figure out how they’re feeling from the very back, I knew that we were OK,” Reid said.

Although the majority of the cast is inperson, two actors opted to stay virtual, so they had to be incorporated as voice-over actors who are dialing in to the studio via a Zoom call. In order for the actors to be visible, they had to be projected onto a giant screen, which presented its own tech issues.

“Usually, our light plots don’t factor in a projector screen as part of the set, but because we’re using the projector screen, we had to really adjust our lighting and take out all the shadows that were being created by the projector screen,” Reid said.

Since VHSL is a smaller scale production than TheatreMcLean’s other shows, each of the tech crews focused on just one person. The tech crews that interacted with the actors the most, such as the costume and hair departments, discovered that social distancing requirements limited their abilities.

“I design hairstyles that fit characters and are good to wear in performance,” senior Tracy Waagner said. “[This year], I’m not able to actually do the hair myself, so I have to create or only design styles that are easy for the actors to do themselves.”

As seniors who have worked together for years, the limited contact felt strange.

“It’s definitely a lot harder to get in the space and the mindset [of] when we were in school [last year],” Lahr said. “We’re all still really good friends, but it’s kind of harder when we’re all super spread apart and everything.”

Not only did the pandemic create both a literal and figurative distance between the cast, it also disrupted other theater traditions. Some, like the monthly No-Shame shows, were adapted to the virtual environment. Others, however, had to be scrapped.

“Normally, we do a thing called ‘breaking bread,’ where one of us goes and buys a baguette, and we’ll grab a piece of it and rip it before the show. But now we can’t do that,” Waagner said.

Even with the disruptions and limitations, the cast and crew were grateful for the opportunity to return in person.

“When we started rehearsing in person, it was almost a full year since we had kids in the auditorium. Having an empty auditorium for almost a full year is crazy,” Reid said. “Having them [in person] brought such an energy and such joy, and that has been so fun to work with.”

Despite the changes, this year’s VHSL competition format does have a silver lining.

“It feels very rewarding to have a finished product, especially one that we can all look back on and rewatch,” Lahr said.

MASKED ACTORS — The all-senior cast of Vocal Work, including Ben Cudmore, Chloe Lahr, Will Chapman and Anna Potocki on stage and Michael Aten and Emilia Ermanoski on screen, films their entry into VHSL’s Theater Competition on April 8. The contest is entirely virtual this year.