Amid a global pandemic, it is safe to say things look a little different—especially for the performing arts. Performing arts departments and organizations across campus are struggling to push forward with the numerous safety guidelines in place. From afar, it seems like it is not worth the hassle. But the diligent faculty and students of the DU theater department have found ways to break through and continue to perform this quarter.
Rehearsals began Sept. 16, for the two main stage shows: I and You by Lauren Gunderson, a stunning and relevant piece about the friendship and love between an isolated, chronically ill girl and an unlikely intruder; and Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen, a literary masterpiece about a woman trapped in a marriage and missing the life and power she never had.
A week before rehearsal started, auditions were ‘held.’ Instead of auditioning in front of the directors in JMAC, students recorded and submitted video auditions. It was an obvious solution for maintaining safer auditions.
But how does the department progress from there? The infamous “new normal” has been a world of video recordings and Zoom meetings. This was the case for the theater department in the spring of 2020.
In the sudden upheaval of the school year, the short play festival turned into a short radio play/animation/film festival with Zoom rehearsals and a Vimeo opening night. It was all the department could do amidst a full campus and state shutdown. But theater is inherently community based and hands-on—Zoom cannot sustain it forever.
The faculty, led by Department Chair Steven McDonald, used the summer to plan a way to bring the students back onto the stage while keeping them safe and following protocol.
The first step was to rearrange the shows. In the pre-COVID world, the department would produce three shows a quarter: the Byron show in the spacious and well-ventilated Byron Theatre, a studio show in either JMAC or the Newman Center and the staged reading in Hamilton Hall. This quarter, both staged shows will be held in the Byron Theatre without an audience and recorded to be streamed after the shows close.
The “studio show,” I and You, directed by Greg Ungar, will open week six and the “Byron show,” Hedda Gabbler, directed by Rick Barbour will open week nine. As for the staged reading, Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties, directed by Anne Penner—that will be live-streamed to the public as a Zoom webinar on Friday, Oct. 2 of week three.
The hope is that no matter how they are delivered, these performances can give a moment’s respite to the viewer. The season this year is full of biting tales of sadness, perseverance and transformation. These tales are ones we are living within now as the world shifts and sags around our daily lives, and we struggle to keep them upright. For now, the theater department is working through that struggle and will continue to do so in any way they can.
