Issue 1 October 2020

Design by Melody Hao ‘22 • Photo by Dan Gaken/Flickr
Features 9
The Show Must Go On
Performing Arts
in the Time of a Pandemic
By AVA OLSON ‘21
Many of Baldwin’s
performing
groups sound
very different this year,
with the Orchestra missing
their entire woodwind
section, and no singing
to be heard in the chorus.
Photo by Jessica Lamontagne ‘22
The performing arts community
at Baldwin is adjusting
to new rules that
completely change the way
musical groups and stage
productions operate in the
midst of the pandemic.
Not only will productions
look different
this year at Baldwin, but
Maskers, Baldwin’s theater
club, is unable to carry
out their normal activities.
“I’ve seen a few productions
that just weren’t
socially distant or people
didn’t get tested beforehand.
There’s a lot of stuff
that just wouldn’t fly at
Baldwin, so there isn’t
really a model that we
can bring directly to the
school,” Maskers member
and theater aficionado
Lucy Bonin ’21 said.
“Typically in a school
year, we start the beginning
of the year with finalizing
the show choices. We
would’ve held auditions,
and then Maskers would
deal with promoting the
show, we might go to the
Simpson Center during
lunch to work on the sets,
and we would start planning
Homecoming or other
events,” Bonin said.
Bonin plays a large
part in the Maskers club,
performing the primary role
of stage manager while also
writing plays, acting, directing,
and helping out with
tech elements on the side.
Recently, Bonin was commended
by the Philadelphia
Youth Playwrights for
her original play, Birdseye.
Currently, Maskers
has a virtual-cabaret
planned, where both in-person
and online students can
participate. There are also
plans to have a production
of Shakespeare in the Park.
“What we’ve learned
through science is that outdoor
productions are much
safer than indoor ones. As
the year progresses and as
we grow more accustomed
to this system of learning
in a variety of ways- either
online or in-person- we
are going to see if it’s possible
to do a full show or
parts of a show and how
we’re going to accomplish
that,” Bonin said.
Beyond Baldwin, the
theater community is facing
immense safety challenges,
and major production
companies and actors are
losing economic revenue.
“Broadway, which is
a huge source of income
for New York as well as
for theater artists, has been
closed since March. Many
regional places are finding
ways to do theater, but
I’ve seen a lot of unsafe
productions popping up.
So it’s really about navigating
safety but also managing
to create art during
this time,” Bonin said.
Despite the limitations
surrounding in-person theater
productions, there are
still several ways people
can stay in touch with the
performing arts community.
“There’s huge online
theater collections that you
can watch. Philly Young
Playwrights have a lot of
ongoing submission contests
that you can be part
of if you like writing for
theater. In terms of performances,
I think Mr. Warfel
is a great resource if you
just want to learn a monologue
and get some recommendations,”
Bonin said.
Despite theatres being closed,
students can still watch plays online.