High school students are no strangers to cancelled trips, conferences and competitions at this point in time. This year especially, changed plans are a constant across extracurricular activities. However, students and teachers in one program at the high school—that is, one among many—are creating ways to engage with each other and the art form in which they excel. The Pioneer Playmakers continue to embody creativity, now on the screen instead of the stage.
For junior Cora Jones, other Playmakers and all students in theatre courses, this year has presented challenges which have fundamentally altered the theatre program. Jones stated, “Theatre being such a hands-on and interpersonal art form has made it one of the most difficult classes to adapt to. It's been feeling sort of empty and as if something is missing when we can't all meet as a full ensemble and really get comfortable with each other; conceptualizing and discussing our work can be more difficult when you can't feel the energy in the room and gauge how everyone is feeling like you can in person.”
While all classes have required innovative actions on the part of educators and adaptability from students, elective courses with heavy reliance on interpersonal activities are even more uniquely challenging. In theatre, which thrives on not only interaction between student members, but also between the ensemble and an audience, that struggle was intensified.
However, when asked if this time had presented any benefits, Jones said, “100 percent. It may not be ideal that we can't physically be as close and together as we prefer, but everything has been an opportunity to learn something beautiful and new. We do not view mandatory barriers like not being able to touch one another and not being able to rehearse or brainstorm as a full, in-person ensemble as setbacks, rather exciting prompts that open doors for us to think outside of the box in ways we wouldn't have if our situation was ‘normal.’”
Jones’s statement is affirmed by a fellow returning Playmaker, senior Sean Crothers, who can also compare this unparalleled year with previous experience. Crothers said, “I think having to find loopholes to the problems that confront us is somewhat beneficial. Being able to do something different from all the other years at the high school is something that I think all the Playmakers were very invested in, and as a whole made the project more special.”
Both new and returning Playmakers are facing the challenge of following the award-winning show that last year’s ensemble delivered in the North Carolina Theatre Conference, an annual competition. At NCTC, Playmakers participate and perform a play amongst other schools in the state. The play last year’s ensemble performed, Ernest and the Pale Moon, took the Playmakers all the way to the Southeastern Theatre Conference. Now, the student actors are not only following an outstanding act but are also doing it on a new platform.
NCTC is still taking place, but the students’ audience will be viewing their performance through a screen. Junior Kirra Laws-Bush, a first-year Playmaker, described, “We are currently in the midst of NCTC, which is a theatre competition for NC…. However, due to COVID and not being able to be on a stage to compete in front of an audience NCTC gave schools the challenge of making our own film. So, of course, we took on the challenge of writing our own devised 45-minute film.”
The new process of NCTC required the Playmakers to participate in a wide variety of activities involving much more than just acting. Jones said, “It's been all hands on deck with scriptwriting, music writing, filming, editing, directing, acting, and so much more. I am in the group for visual aspects, (costumes, props, etc,) and music, (writing the score and backing music for the film,) with many other people. Other groups we split into were filming and writing.”
In Between the Trees was the play created from these combined efforts, and filming took place in a local outdoor setting several weeks ago, according to Laws-Bush. This film will constitute the Playmakers submission to NCTC this year.
Jones said of the performance, “In Between the Trees is a film about how a group of teens explore their identity and flaws through broken interpersonal relationships and moral corruption after getting stuck in a state of limbo because of the murder of their friend Bennett.”
Crothers, Laws-Bush and Jones all took an acting role in the film. Each of them plays one of the teenagers seeking to come to terms with the death of their friend. However, as previously mentioned, this production also required effort from students to manage sound, lighting and filming in an outdoor setting.
The ensemble met over two days for filming, and during that time they faced the added difficulty of achieving their theatrical purposes while following COVID-19 safety guidelines. Crothers remarked on the challenges that social distancing, especially, has created in filming, saying, “Theatre as a whole is very physically inclined. Without being able to have the actors communicate in a space where they feel comfortable, the show itself feels rather unconnected and not authentic to an audience. This is a big problem when performing for Playmakers, as it is hard to feel safe in an environment where 20 actors and two directors have to find a space where they can all work and still be separated.”
However, the Playmakers were still successful in upholding restrictions. Laws-Bush described, “We filmed the whole thing outside in the woods around one of our fellow Playmaker’s neighborhoods. We stayed 6 feet apart at all times and everyone wore masks when they were off-camera.”
Of course, not being in a shared space with other schools and staying in the local area for competition has provided the Playmakers with unique opportunities which would be impossible in a normal NCTC performance. Playmakers have been able to utilize the mountain aesthetic and their community for the setting in their film, therefore breaking the traditional parameters for NCTC submissions.
Jones said, “Usually, we would travel to a different school and perform on stage for the competition with many restrictions, one of which is our entire set having to fit in a 10x10 box. This year, we are not limited to the stage or a minimal set and are, along with other schools, creating an actual film as our play in an outdoor setting.”
As Jones stated, restrictions are nothing new to the Playmakers within this competition. Instead, restrictions have shifted and generated new space for creativity elsewhere. Furthermore, the Playmakers creativity will not stop with NCTC, it seems.
Laws-Bush said, “Along with NCTC, we are currently just starting to work on filming some Christmas performances for kids and adults around the county.”
Filming these performances will build a bridge from the Playmakers to their community around the state and in the local area. As they are discovering new ways to connect with an audience, Jones summarized the process, saying, “Learning how to build our team and make art in our new normal has been wacky in the best way possible. Everyone is growing and learning together through our experiences.”
Follow the Pioneer Playmakers on Instagram @whsplaymakers to keep up with their progress through new projects and learn more about In Between the Trees.
Written by: Bethany Hicks
Comments