By Leah Katz ’21
The intoxicating crescendo of laughter and applause from a live audience may sound like a relic from years past, but not for the students involved in this year’s Fall Play, Alice in Wonderland. The BHS Stage Right Drama Club was able to perform the show for a limited audience of 25, with a total of 4 shows during December 4-6. It was also recorded by BevCam and will air in the near future. So how do you put on a “pandemic play”? With our now-normal mask and distancing requirements, there were surprisingly few modifications necessary. Stage Right was lucky enough to find a royalty-free version of the play, so they could make all necessary changes without permission needed from the author or publisher. Things like hugging and hand-shaking were rewritten as air high-fives, or cut altogether.
The royalty-free script just so happened to write only a few characters onstage for each scene, which helped everyone keep a safe distance. Keeping that distance, however, has taken a toll on the club’s tight-knit environment. Gone are the days of fun warm-ups and team building activities before rehearsals, leaving a far less connected cast than in years past. Only a few characters actually got to interact with others onstage, but the cast enjoyed being together backstage (distanced in the cafeteria) during the performances.
The cast and crew certainly worked harder than ever to put on a show in this pandemic. This unique production of Alice in Wonderland has been a great opportunity to continue the art of theatre that inspires so many, and to provide some sense of normalcy to audiences and performers alike.
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Watch the full show below:
