Theatre Solves Four Mysteries
October 13, 2020
The fall theatre season, my dear Watson, has been confirmed.
Despite safety and health regulations allowing up to 25 people at a time in the auditorium, director Will Jenkins found a loophole.
Jenkins found four one-act plays that have an average of nine cast members each, making rehearsals and shows more safe and convenient.
This collection of shows, “Holmes and Watson: The Game’s Afoot,” is a series of mysteries based off of four classic stories by Arthur Conan Doyle.
Auditions for the show were held Monday, Sept. 28 and Tuesday, Sept. 29 in the auditorium.
Results of the auditions are posted on their website.
With a new cast comes new guidelines, changed to uphold the new restrictions and rules that have been set.
Technical Director Eric Paules discussed some of the plans or action that this year’s stage and lighting crew will take on.
“The set will be minimal, with focus on detailed props and furniture to facilitate small-group construction projects. The design will also include a floor grid to help the actors maintain social distances when on-stage,” said Paules. “Duplicate props will need to be constructed to minimize hand-offs of properties from actor to actor. We’ll be implementing some extra cleaning procedures, additional PPE, and scheduling our work sessions to fit with the school’s cleaning schedule.”
With no weekends to work away from the cast, another new battle this year is managing space between cast and crew on the weekdays, so everyone can do their part, safely.
“We also have the challenge of doing set construction in a shared space that doubles as a classroom during the week, so cooperation and flexibility will be key,” said Paules.
Many have wondered how the show would be performed and if there would even be an audience.
Co-lead student costumer senior Virginia Good explained how the audience will partake in the experience.
“We will be having an audience.” said Good. “The only thing is they won’t be live, that is, in person. Anyone who wants to see the show will most likely be paying for their ability to join a live stream of the performance.”
Since this has never been done before, Paules had some concerns.
“Sound tech will have to learn to mix for broadcast rather than a live event, and they will have to figure out how best to mic actors wearing face coverings,” said Paules. “I also hope to have a ‘live stream team’ of students with video production experience that can help us capture the live stream and make it available to the community, similar to how live sports are being handled.”
With the table read now under the cast’s belt, rehearsals are beginning next week.
The shows will run the first weekend of December.
Anyone interested in helping out with the technical side can fill out this Google Registration form.
For the cast list, click here.