In the year 2020, Broadway went dark. Theatres across the world closed to provide for social distancing. And we theatre kids, so reliant on validation and applause, could only congregate on group chats and livestreams. It’s been a strange time, an unprecedented time, but as other industries adapt to the, cliché alert, New Normal, what can theatre groups learn and how can they be better prepared to provide socially distant theatre experiences? I’m Derek, I’ve been drawn poorly, and we’re about to talk about it.
Welcome to Derek Sings Poorly, the channel for theatre kids of any age and the people who tolerate them, I am the titular Derek reminding you now to please like and subscribe, in case your computer blows up before you get a chance to later. 2020 has become the year of the video conference, and theatre was not exempt. From the cast of Hamilton surprising a young fan on John Krasinski’s YouTube show, to countless staged table readings, to oh so many versions of One Day More, seriously guys, No Days More, pick a new act closer ensemble piece, I recommend Tomorrow Is from Spongebob and that is a hill I’m willing to die on, but I digress. I’ve been holding weekly Facebook streams with my old theatre group as well, I even did Shakespeare on Zoom, and that’s a T-shirt.
But is it possible to scale these experiments up into a professional product that could temporarily fill the gaps when in-house performances are on hold? Ideally, you’d be able to at least get your cast together into one bubble and broadcast live from a single location but for many that won’t be an option and you’ll have to go remote. Here are THREE things to think about when it comes to doing theatre on Zoom or any other streaming service.
1) Watch Out for Latency. You’re going to get latency. Technology will always find a way to fail you. If you don’t know what latency is………that was it. It’s the awkward pause you see before a field reporter speaks on the evening news because they don’t hear the studio host’s question at the same time you do. Or why when you’re live-tweeting a show or event, someone else on the timeline seems to know what happened before you do, transferring media data is not instantaneous. And that’s not taking into account the danger of outages or internet speed lag. Why is this an issue for theatre? Because acting is reacting, and your latency is your reaction time. One of the best ways to reduce this is use a cable connection instead of wireless and upgrade your speed as much as possible. For more tips, I’ll leave a resource in the description. Plan for latency.
2) Consistency is Key. If you have been on any video conference for a second of your life, you will know that audio and video quality can vary wildly from person to person. The easiest way to come across more professional on the old Zoombox is to make sure everyone has a quality webcam and microphone, and some basic lighting. I think it’s fairly obvious to say, but if you’re going to charge a virtual admission price, onboard laptop quality is not going to cut it. Luckily, a solid HD webcam setup does not going necessarily have to set you back that much, once again, see the resources below.
3) It’s a Visual Medium. A major hurdle in this presentation is that what used to be on a grand decorated stage is now being seen presented in first-person perspective in front of bookshelves and laundry. It may seem silly now, but if we do have to elevate Zoom to true theatre, it’s going to require costuming and set dressing, whether that entails physically altering everyone’s space to look cohesive or strategically using green screen. And with broadcasting software, it is possible to use other video and graphic elements to enhance the viewing experience and represent action that talking heads simply can’t, because this it not their beautiful house and this is not their beautiful wife.
Now this is far from perfect. Musical numbers in particular will be incredibly hard to pull off with latency issues, those could be instead prerecorded and transitioned into from the live feed, like a reverse Little Mermaid Singalong, how bad was that, anyway, I tried to block it from my memory but it keeps coming back. Stamos. Audience expectations would have to change, but done right this could provide an intimate alternative during times that we can’t bring everyone under one roof.
Theatre is a living thing, it’s always moving, it’s always growing, always changing. And right now some of the most driven and creative people in the world are locked in their homes, with nothing to do but think. So take comfort in the possibility that once those doors open, great art is going to come flowing out, and if we have to watch that art on a screen, at least we’re getting a lot of practice at it.
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