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Online Senior Theatre:
What I Learned
by
Enid Davis
We will be doing online theatre for a while so we
asked Enid Davis, director of The Avenidas Wise Owl Players, to
let us know what she has learned. Enid says:
I moved my drama program at the Avenidas Senior Center in Palo
Alto, California to Zoom in May 2020. We were all new to the
platform. One study class and three performances later I can tell
you this: performing on Zoom makes a great metaphor for life -- it’s
not perfect but you can accomplish a lot if you can adapt,
persevere, and have some financial resources. I learned:
- Have actors focus on their camera. Looking
at scene partners doesn't work because everyone's screen looks
different.
- For a staged reading, the best method for
holding the script is in front of their squares, out of the
binder, right below the audience’s line of vision.
- The cast needs technical training apart
from rehearsing their roles. Technical practice will extend
rehearsal time. Most people, but not all, can learn to Zoom.
- Actors must have sufficient home lighting,
both natural and artificial to make a good screen appearance.
- Actors need a fairly powerful computer with
a graphic card in order to be heard, seen, and use a virtual
background.
- When adding a virtual background, the
majority of actors will need a green screen, sufficient
lighting, and additional equipment if their computers are not
powerful, such as a ring light. Daytime performances work
better due to virtual background lighting needs.
- Audio is tricky. Adjust audio settings on
both the computer and the Zoom application if the sound is too
low, tinny, or intermittent. Additional equipment, such as a
webcam or an external microphone might be needed.
- Certain costumes and props can disappear
into the virtual background. It might be the color or the
texture of the product. Holding a prop in front of your body
works.
- Zoom wants one person to talk at a time. If
you add music, you will need to adjust settings and perhaps
will need different equipment on some of the computers.
The most difficult aspect of doing theatre online is
the variability of the Internet connections. Nonetheless, if you
want to do theatre, do it...and do it to whatever level both you
and your troupe desire. As the Wise Owl Players say, “Break a
wing!”
Learn more
about going online:
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Visit our
ever-changing website!
Download
our catalog:
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