Theatre Studies in Quarantine – Nellie

How can I engage in theatre while social distancing?

My name is Nellie Lonergan and for my Senior Project I set about answering the question, “How Can I engage in theatre while social distancing?” Originally, before Covid19, I had planned to direct our school’s annual Spring Festival, a night of one-act plays staged throughout the building. This would have been  an opportunity to direct my peers and gain experience in the field I want to pursue. However, because of the pandemic I had to significantly rethink my project. I suspected that other students in the LREI community were also missing Theatre and despite the circumstances I wanted to provide an environment for students to participate in Theatre-related activities. 

Working alongside my teacher Joan we started an all-inclusive Theatre Club. Students could use the club for anything they wanted. Whether they wanted to participate in the Spring Festival or  stage a full read-through for a play they had written, I wanted to give them the resources they needed. Because of the quarantine, there were some key elements missing. Much of Theatre has to do with feeding off of one another’s energy and using physicality to express yourself. I couldn’t envision a world where Theatre over Zoom would be worthwhile. However, as the weeks progressed and I continued directing more and more scenes, the Theatre Club shifted into a rehearsal space for the digital Spring Festival. My new Senior project started to resemble my original concept: different groups of students selected a wide selection of scenes (Shakespearian, modern, abstract and naturalistic), the majority of which I directed. I also spent a significant amount of time reading material, researching other at-home-Theatre, and interviewing different professionals in the field. One of the key things I learned about trying to tackle Theatre in quarantine was that you shouldn’t ignore the circumstances but embrace them. For example, watching two students do a scene written to take place in person and just pretending they’re not on a Zoom call often fell flat and seemed off, but watching students perform a scene that takes place over a phone call was much more natural. I started to adapt certain scenes work digitally, and encourage students to choose scenes that would make more sense over the phone with the actors in separate spaces. 

As time passed students were becoming more and more comfortable with life over Zoom and I was able to tap into some of the elements of directing I had been missing. Whenever I direct my goal is always to encourage naturalism amongst the actors, and as time passed we were able to engage in those conversations. We could talk about the mentalities of characters, and different elements at play. However, what I missed the most was coming up with blocking. It might sound strange to say I am passionate about blocking, but finding a way for actors to move that engages and excites the audience can make or break a scene. Due to the circumstances I was able to focus on elements other than blocking, although I did work in any I could. I had the privilege of working alongside extremely hardworking, passionate students who have put significant effort into the Spring Festival. 

I would like to encourage you all to come to see our digital Spring Festival on June 4th. In the gallery I’ve edited together a trailer, so please take a look! At the heart of Theatre is human connection, a strong sense of community, and care for the people around us. I love Theatre because it dramatizes and holds up the importance of every human life; Theatre treats every human life as  a tremendous event, a gigantic drama, something of monumental importance. It’s why Theatre is ridiculous and why it’s true.  It is exactly what we need when our community has been taken away from us, so please come support your community!