ALL NOV ROAR PAGES

THE SHOW MUST GO ON
District One-Act casts
adjust to restrictions
caused by coronavirus
AYTEK ABDULLA /
STAFF WRITER
In the dew-filled mornings of theater
districts, sophomore Grant Newcombe’s
medals clink against his chest as he
excitedly walks with the others to watch
their fellow troupe members perform their
respective events.
For avid participants, districts is a wellanticipated,
annual event. It’s a chance for
students from throughout the county to
compete and showcase their talents from
monologues to pantomimes. One of the
events performed at districts is the One
Act, an entirely student-directed show.
The middle-schoolers will perform
“Bedtime Stories (As Told by Dad) (Who
Messed Them Up),” a comedy centered
on a father telling his children bedtime
stories and straying away from the source
material. The high-schoolers will perform
“Oz,” a comedy/drama that serves as a
cynical parody of the beloved story, “The
Wizard of Oz.”
However, due to the ongoing pandemic,
several changes in the rules and structure
of this competition have been instituted.
In order to maintain safety, socialdistancing
and other COVID-19
regulations will have to be enforced.
According to senior Ethan Rebec, director
of both of the One-Acts, performers will
wear masks at all times, keeping six feet
apart when they are not in the scene, and
will have their own scripts so no one has
to share.
Senior Genevieve Archibald, who is
performing in the One-Act, said the
changes will make districts frustrating.
“Singing with masks on is hard because
you can’t catch your breath,” she said.
“It will also make dance rehearsals hard
because many people will be short of
breath while dancing. A critical part of
the One-Act is the ability to project and
masks make it even harder to do so. We
will have rehearsals about projection and
articulation, though, so none of the show
will be lost to the masks.”
Newcombe said he worries the quality of
the performance will suffer.
“I think social-distancing during
rehearsals is logical. However, with the
masks, it is harder to hear people and
see their facial expressions,” he said. “It
will definitely make things more difficult
because staging-wise, we are required
to stage the play so that no one touches,
which will make stage chemistry much
more difficult. It will also be much harder
to see someone’s characterization, so the
director will have a harder time helping
and giving tips to the actors.”
But senior Meghan Matthys said she
doesn’t see a downside when it comes to
social-distancing during rehearsals.
“COVID-19 is a very big issue and can
even be deadly for some people,” Matthys
said. “I think it is worth it to socially
distance if we are able to save a life in the
process. I don’t think it will negatively
affect our performance at all and it actually
may allow people to feel safer when
coming to rehearsals.”
Additionally, the performances will be
recorded and submitted to judges rather
than being performed live. The final
submissions are due Nov. 3.
“Recording a submission will make the
performance easier to master because you
PHOTO / MCKENNA SLAUGHTER
Drea Cumba (12) , Grant Newcombe (10) and Meghan Matthys (12) rehearse for “Oz.”
can record it as many times as you wish
so that it is perfect,” Newcombe said.
“However, it takes away from the overall
experience of it, and the troupe will not be
able to support everyone’s events. It will
not be the same enjoyable experience, but
it will likely improve the quality of our
performance.”
Although the one-acts are directed and
run by students, adult presence is required.
After former theater instructor Maureen
Fallon retired suddenly in August, English
teacher Thomas O’Bryan stepped in.
“We are unable to practice without a
sponsor, so he has always shown up for us,”
Newcombe said.
This year, the competition will be broken
into regionals, rather than one district.
“Winning will be more difficult this year
than any other previous years because we
will be up against four times the number
of schools as we normally would be,”
Archibald said.
Despite these changes, the students said
they feel confident.
“I’m feeling super-confident that we
will do well this year,” Matthys said. “Our
whole cast is so talented and I think we
definitely have a shot at qualifying for
states or even winning Best-of-Show.”
WESTSHOREROAR.COM / ROAR I 23