The Theatre and Dance Department will be putting on shows this upcoming fall semester. There are multiple shows on the schedule, but they will be delivered in a very nontraditional way for the department.
Department Chair Margaret Wilson said the department plans to remotely stream productions online, maintaining CDC social distancing guidelines while also giving students the chance to perform.
The department had a trial run at streaming a performance this summer with the show “God of Carnage,” with actors in different locations all streaming on one composit video.
“It was a really good experiment to try and see if we can make the technology work for us, and it was a very successful project in that we were able to really take care of the performers and director,” said Wilson.
Wilson also said that the performers will hopefully be on campus in the performing arts building. However, they will all still be in separate rooms while practicing and performing.
Due to the performances being streamed, there will be no live audience. This is an important part of most performances for the department.
“A lot of times you build off the energy or you develop the character over a long rehearsal process, but then when you put it in front of an audience I think it really solidifies. So, to not have an audience I think is going to be sort of the one thing that we’re going to need to figure out how to help the students,” said Wilson.
There are advantages to not having an inhouse audience, especially with audience location.
Wilson said that they had people from across the continent tune into their summer show “God of Carnage,” including Texas, South Carolina, Washington, and even Canada.
As for the students, they have already adapted to so much with the previous spring semester’s move to online. However, with a direction for the department to go in, there will be much more to learn.
“I think we’re pretty adaptable, certainly within the performance classes,” said Wilson. “The dance classes have been online, and we’ve figured out ways to maybe enhance the experience so it’s not just watching a video and trying to follow along.”
Wilson also said that the acting classes are progressing in much the same way, with monologues, duets, and scenes over zoom with other classmates.
There has also been a bigger sense of solidarity in the University of Wyoming community with all of the struggles that came with COVID-19.
“We feel like this might be an opportunity for students to dig a little bit deeper into independent projects and that certainly would develop some collaborative initiatives,” said Wilson. “We are all about storytelling, and so our goal is to reach out to other other student programs on campus and see if they would like to come and work with us or if we could help in any way.”
With students set to come back to campus in the fall, professors are anxious to see them all.
“I really am excited about the fact that students will be coming back. At the same time, if there’s students who are unable to come back for one reason or the other, we still will be able to connect with them using technology,” said Wilson. “We’re just excited to look at all the ways in which we can produce theater.”
