By Courtney Weekley
Due to COVID-19, Melissa Friesen, professor of theatre and communication, had to make some changes to how the fall play was produced. This year the fall play was done virtually. The play this year was a collection of five short plays called “Alone, Together.”
“The plays have been written since March, they all take place in the current climate we are in dealing with social distancing,” said Friesen. “They were written specifically for Zoom or teleconferencing.”
The short plays involve characters going through the challenge of staying socially distanced.
Friesen has been directing plays at Bluffton University since 2002. She said this year directing has been different.
For the play, students had to audition outside by the library.
“I wanted to actually see students’ facial expressions so we did it outside,” said Friesen. “Then we could have the actors far enough apart so that they could actually take off their masks to see them act.”
Each play had between one and three actors, and they had a couple in-person rehearsals, while wearing face shields, but the actors did most of their rehearsals through Zoom.
Friesen sitting in Ramseyer Auditorium where fall plays would normally take place. Photo by Courtney Weekley
In Zoom rehearsals the actors were able to experiment in their own room. They would experiment when to hide themselves during the act, as well as eye focus to make sure they were looking exactly at their camera off of their computers.
Friesen said they ran into a few difficulties while putting the play together.
A couple of the actors were put into quarantine, so they weren’t able to record some of their scenes where Friesen originally planned. The actors also had to do their own hair and makeup because Friesen was afraid of people getting too close to others.
Payton Stephens, a sophomore who was in one of the plays this fall, said that she thought this year’s play was very interesting but hopes she doesn’t have to do a play like this again.
“I was also the stage manager,” said Stephens. “It’s just the little things that you take for granted when you’re working as a stage actor. It’s like we had to start from square one.”
Stephens would have to run from one dorm to the other taking care of cameras, lights and sound effects. She said that they had troubles finding the happy medium for the sound effects; making sure that the actors could hear the cues, but also making sure the sounds weren’t overpowering for the audience.
“Just because all the plays were pandemic themed,” said Stephens. “I think that they had a relatable quality that not just college students could relate to but everyone can.”
Stephens said there were more people who showed up to watch the play than she expected.
“I’m feeling this tremendous sense of we did it, we were able to accomplish it despite all the challenges,” said Friesen.
