Open Forum

Hello all.
Hopefully everyone is safe and staying healthy during these troubled times. 
In preparation for the fall, our school, and some other schools, are looking at various options for how the school year will operate next year given the virus is still here. I thought I would reach out to you to see how other schools are planning and preparing for the potential to be virtual in the fall....at least to some degree? 

Thank you for your thoughts around this.
Stay safe and have a great day!

------------------------------
James Fry
Director of Student Life and the Malvern Theatre Society
Malvern, PA
------------------------------

Hi James, 

Great question! My school is a JK-8 school, and our performances are mostly 4th-8th grade. We are thinking about this potential challenge in a few different ways

• Season construction - I've made the decision already to shift certain productions in our season, since I think the Fall will likely be a time for learning about our "new normal" both in the classroom and in productions. I'm moving our 8th grade musical from the Fall to the Spring, since it is the largest production we do and, with dancing and the large cast, would likely be challenging to do with social distancing. I'm hoping that by Spring we may be in a place where that will be less of an issue (or perhaps no longer necessary? Let's hope...)
• Play choice - I'm lucky that I haven't announced our season yet, so for the 4th and 6th grade plays I will be moving to the Fall and our 7th grade December pageant I'm thinking about shows and performance styles that will allow for social distancing and could potentially be performed well with a video taped performance or that students could perform a plethora of times(if audiences are only allowed to be limited size or not present in the theater at all). Some monologue plays, but also folk tales that may be able to have some space on stage. To be honest I'm at the beginning of this process so I don't have any good ideas to share. Suggestions welcome! We also have an outdoor amphitheater, so I'm also looking at shows we may be able to do there at least in the early Fall. 
• Production considerations - As I mentioned before, I'm definitely thinking about how we can do shows with socially distanced blocking. I'm also thinking about how to have kids masked backstage -  maybe having a rack on either side backstage, labeled with student names so that they could hang masks on those hooks when they go onstage and then put them back on when they come backstage. Social distancing backstage would be a real issue, and I haven't really figured that out yet. If guidelines by Fall are still to have only groupings of 10 people or less then productions may not be feasible at all, but I'm trying to stay hopeful in that vein. Sanitizing of props and set pieces daily by adults with the assistance of our tech crew will probably become standard, as well as backstage space. I need to look into what the CDC is saying about fabrics - we may have to have students only use their own clothing for costumes. 

Most of these are just questions I'm asking myself and potential solutions I'm trying to come up with in case of a worst-case-scenario - I'm hoping most of this won't come to pass but better safe than sorry. Again, thanks for the discussion and I hope some of this helps. 

Best,

------------------------------
Erin Coulter
Theater Teacher
The Hill School
The Plains VA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-29-2020 14:26
From: James Fry
Subject: Fall shows

Hello all.
Hopefully everyone is safe and staying healthy during these troubled times.
In preparation for the fall, our school, and some other schools, are looking at various options for how the school year will operate next year given the virus is still here. I thought I would reach out to you to see how other schools are planning and preparing for the potential to be virtual in the fall....at least to some degree?

Thank you for your thoughts around this.
Stay safe and have a great day!

------------------------------
James Fry
Director of Student Life and the Malvern Theatre Society
Malvern, PA
------------------------------

James,

We are announcing out 2020-2021 season today. We always have a big reveal. We are planning, business as usual and will pivot if need be. We have a storied past in musical theatre and strong relationships with the licensing agencies. They too are in an unknown and uncharted territory. We have had nothing but good results in getting the agreements for the season. We actually had to cancel one of our shows and are moving it to next season. The licencing agency allowed us to cancel and rebook for this next year.

So in a nutshell, in Indiana we are moving ahead. If we have to do things virtually, we will learn from what we have done the last eight weeks.

------------------------------
Crit Fisher
Lighting/Sound Designer
New Albany High School
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-29-2020 14:26
From: James Fry
Subject: Fall shows

Hello all.
Hopefully everyone is safe and staying healthy during these troubled times.
In preparation for the fall, our school, and some other schools, are looking at various options for how the school year will operate next year given the virus is still here. I thought I would reach out to you to see how other schools are planning and preparing for the potential to be virtual in the fall....at least to some degree?

Thank you for your thoughts around this.
Stay safe and have a great day!

------------------------------
James Fry
Director of Student Life and the Malvern Theatre Society
Malvern, PA
------------------------------

I teach high school and honestly I can't imagine successfully putting Social Distancing protocols into either the classroom or the theater.

Most school classrooms are simply not big enough to accommodate 30-35 students all staying 6 feet apart from each other.

Are we going to require teenage students to all wear masks and stay 6' apart at all times? No touching either in class or out in the halls? How are we supposed to enforce that? What do we do with a student who breaks protocol? 

Most of us have 5-7 classes daily. Are we supposed to completely wipe down and sterilize classrooms, desks, chairs, computers, texts, etc. between each class? During that 3-5 minute cross over time? But if we don't, what's the point in social distancing? 

And in the theater: 

Even if you block for Social Distancing (Greek Theater perhaps? You can wear a mask!) how do you accommodate that backstage? Most wings are tight. And with stage hands, dressers and etc.?  

Again, are you committing to sanitizing the entire theater, house, stage, wings, dressing rooms, between every performance? 

And how is anyone supposed to Social Distance an audience? Would audiences even attend if Social Distancing protocols were still in effect? Should they? 

The entire thing sounds wildly implausible. 

Am I being pessimistic? I mean I have every hope for a vaccine this summer, but I'm afraid the sad truth is that without one by September, or unless the numbers drop to the point of close to zero, it's unrealistic to assume we will be returning to the classroom. I simply can't fathom it. Which means more on-line teaching as best we can, and no extra curricular activities; including sports, band, choir and theater. 

------------------------------
John Monteverde
Drama Teacher
A3: The Academy of Arts & Academics
Springfield, OR
john.monteverde@springfield.k12.or.us
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-29-2020 14:26
From: James Fry
Subject: Fall shows

Hello all.
Hopefully everyone is safe and staying healthy during these troubled times.
In preparation for the fall, our school, and some other schools, are looking at various options for how the school year will operate next year given the virus is still here. I thought I would reach out to you to see how other schools are planning and preparing for the potential to be virtual in the fall....at least to some degree?

Thank you for your thoughts around this.
Stay safe and have a great day!

------------------------------
James Fry
Director of Student Life and the Malvern Theatre Society
Malvern, PA
------------------------------

I want to thank James for posting this topic and you all for your excellent responses.  

I think our programs next year are going to have to have a Plan A, B and C.  We're going to have to have at least a couple options available for each of our production slots.  We typically do four productions a year, and I can not see how that will happen next year.  It might be possible to put together a fall one act, but then again perhaps not, maybe that show needs to pivot to a radio play or some other sort of work.  So, I'm going to try to look for several options in each our main stage productions.  That's a lot of work for me, but I think in the long run, I and my program will be better off for that sort of planning.  (Can I use Google Meets or Zoom to develop some short form work, for example, and what does that look like?)  Good questions!

I know also that this time has really pointed out the weaknesses in my curriculum.  For 30 years, I have worked to fine tune and develop a hands on, on your feet, workshop learning style.  While that is fantastic, even after all these years, I am often left with some awkward time at the end of a block where for years we sort of depended on improvisation or theatrical exercises to fill that time.  The move to some digital learning has shown me that I need to refine my methodology and work to include more guided and prepared time for reflection, journal-ing or simple terms. I think this sort of scaffolding would really help some of my younger learners and it prepares me for a time where I might not be able to teach them face to face and include the terms, theories and principles in our daily practice.  So I am thankful for that reflection during this time and in the option of having the time to prepare.

Once again, thank you all so much for your responses.  I think planning, collaboration, reflection and partnerships are going to be very crucial for us all in this coming year.

------------------------------
Michael Johnson
Trinity NC
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 05-02-2020 13:34
From: John Monteverde
Subject: Fall shows

I teach high school and honestly I can't imagine successfully putting Social Distancing protocols into either the classroom or the theater.

Most school classrooms are simply not big enough to accommodate 30-35 students all staying 6 feet apart from each other.

Are we going to require teenage students to all wear masks and stay 6' apart at all times? No touching either in class or out in the halls? How are we supposed to enforce that? What do we do with a student who breaks protocol? 

Most of us have 5-7 classes daily. Are we supposed to completely wipe down and sterilize classrooms, desks, chairs, computers, texts, etc. between each class? During that 3-5 minute cross over time? But if we don't, what's the point in social distancing? 

And in the theater: 

Even if you block for Social Distancing (Greek Theater perhaps? You can wear a mask!) how do you accommodate that backstage? Most wings are tight. And with stage hands, dressers and etc.?  

Again, are you committing to sanitizing the entire theater, house, stage, wings, dressing rooms, between every performance? 

And how is anyone supposed to Social Distance an audience? Would audiences even attend if Social Distancing protocols were still in effect? Should they? 

The entire thing sounds wildly implausible. 

Am I being pessimistic? I mean I have every hope for a vaccine this summer, but I'm afraid the sad truth is that without one by September, or unless the numbers drop to the point of close to zero, it's unrealistic to assume we will be returning to the classroom. I simply can't fathom it. Which means more on-line teaching as best we can, and no extra curricular activities; including sports, band, choir and theater. 

------------------------------
John Monteverde
Drama Teacher
A3: The Academy of Arts & Academics
Springfield, OR
john.monteverde@springfield.k12.or.us

Original Message:
Sent: 04-29-2020 14:26
From: James Fry
Subject: Fall shows

Hello all.
Hopefully everyone is safe and staying healthy during these troubled times.
In preparation for the fall, our school, and some other schools, are looking at various options for how the school year will operate next year given the virus is still here. I thought I would reach out to you to see how other schools are planning and preparing for the potential to be virtual in the fall....at least to some degree?

Thank you for your thoughts around this.
Stay safe and have a great day!

------------------------------
James Fry
Director of Student Life and the Malvern Theatre Society
Malvern, PA
------------------------------

John, just to comment specifically on the vaccine, not to be a wet blanket, but summer 2021 would be an optimistic target date for that, even on an accelerated schedule. While a number of vaccines are in development and I believe a few even may have fast-tracked into human trials (which is extraordinary), don't expect anything until sometime next year. There's a lot of testing to make sure it's a) safe and b) effective, and then it's got to be produced to scale. Hopefully we can reach a certain level of herd immunity first.

I know on the publishing end we're hoping for some sort of resumption of activity, but also looking at plays that can be done virtually or by radio. Activity may vary by area, and it may be that things resume to some extent, only to go in and out of stay-at-home as warranted.

Speaking as someone who premiered a couple of plays at your school back in the day, I'm rooting for you. Keep calm and theatre on.

Cheers,
Jonathan

------------------------------
Jonathan Dorf
Playwright/ Co-founder of YouthPLAYS/ Chair of The Alliance Of Los Angeles Playwrights
Los Angeles CA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 05-02-2020 13:34
From: John Monteverde
Subject: Fall shows

I teach high school and honestly I can't imagine successfully putting Social Distancing protocols into either the classroom or the theater.

Most school classrooms are simply not big enough to accommodate 30-35 students all staying 6 feet apart from each other.

Are we going to require teenage students to all wear masks and stay 6' apart at all times? No touching either in class or out in the halls? How are we supposed to enforce that? What do we do with a student who breaks protocol? 

Most of us have 5-7 classes daily. Are we supposed to completely wipe down and sterilize classrooms, desks, chairs, computers, texts, etc. between each class? During that 3-5 minute cross over time? But if we don't, what's the point in social distancing? 

And in the theater: 

Even if you block for Social Distancing (Greek Theater perhaps? You can wear a mask!) how do you accommodate that backstage? Most wings are tight. And with stage hands, dressers and etc.?  

Again, are you committing to sanitizing the entire theater, house, stage, wings, dressing rooms, between every performance? 

And how is anyone supposed to Social Distance an audience? Would audiences even attend if Social Distancing protocols were still in effect? Should they? 

The entire thing sounds wildly implausible. 

Am I being pessimistic? I mean I have every hope for a vaccine this summer, but I'm afraid the sad truth is that without one by September, or unless the numbers drop to the point of close to zero, it's unrealistic to assume we will be returning to the classroom. I simply can't fathom it. Which means more on-line teaching as best we can, and no extra curricular activities; including sports, band, choir and theater. 

------------------------------
John Monteverde
Drama Teacher
A3: The Academy of Arts & Academics
Springfield, OR
john.monteverde@springfield.k12.or.us

Original Message:
Sent: 04-29-2020 14:26
From: James Fry
Subject: Fall shows

Hello all.
Hopefully everyone is safe and staying healthy during these troubled times.
In preparation for the fall, our school, and some other schools, are looking at various options for how the school year will operate next year given the virus is still here. I thought I would reach out to you to see how other schools are planning and preparing for the potential to be virtual in the fall....at least to some degree?

Thank you for your thoughts around this.
Stay safe and have a great day!

------------------------------
James Fry
Director of Student Life and the Malvern Theatre Society
Malvern, PA
------------------------------