THE SHOW MUST GO ON...

Lockdown and Covid restrictions may have threatened to close the curtain on theatrical productions, but students and staff at Emanuel refused to wait in the wings, writes Harry (U6WGD)...

As theatres closed across the country, many wondered whether the Covid-19 pandemic would be the end of theatre as we knew it. For obvious reasons, the lockdown was a real challenge for the Drama community at Emanuel. Theatre is by definition a collaborative form of art; aside from the actors and performances, there are so many people involved behind the scenes of any one production.This meant that the theatre community had to think of increasingly covert ways of surviving. At Emanuel, against all odds, theatre didn’t just survive: it thrived.There were so many challenges to overcome, but the Drama department consistently battled them all with dignity, grace, and jazz hands!

Following Covid restrictions, Emanuel’s theatrical community was desperate to tread the boards again. Having had to cancel the previous musical, Oliver!, barely days before the run started, by September 2020 everybody was looking forward to showing the world just what we were capable of. With bated breath, students waited to find out if we would be able to stage another musical amidst Covid-19 restrictions and, if so, what the musical would be. When The Addams Family Musical was finally announced, everybody was overjoyed and practically bursting with excitement.

There was, of course, one snag: Covid-19 was still running rampant, and different year groups were not allowed to mix. In order to protect the students, we limited the show to three distinct casts, with an actor for every role in each year group.The musical was also divided into three separate sections (each with their own ‘bubble’) to allow as many students as possible to be able to perform.

The road was not without bumps, but the Emanuel community always stepped up to the challenge.We all knew that group bubbles could burst at any moment, but nobody ever let the side down. For example, when the actor who played Uncle Fester in Upper Sixth was forced to self-isolate, the amazing Seb (L6WGD) stepped in. This kind of selfless initiative was constant throughout the musical, with everybody in the cast doing whatever they could to help the show.

With carefully controlled rehearsals, our production managed to run remarkably smoothly, all thanks to the amazing efforts of everybody involved. The staff working on the production, led by Miss Graves, put out every fire (luckily these were only metaphorical fires!). Miss Graves’ unending dedication and passion set the tone for the team and brought us all together to give what we could to our show. It was an amazing production to be a part of for many reasons, but it would not have made it close to the stage without her, or the whole Drama team. We owe her endless gratitude. This was her first musical at Emanuel and it will not be forgotten.

As the start of the show approached, pressures from the pandemic simmered with another potential lockdown, only two months after the ‘rule of six’ was imposed. Barely a week before the show, we received the news that two members of the Year 10 cast had contracted Covid-19 and would have to isolate — possibly for the entire run. This was devastating to the cast; we were a family and wanted to make it to the finish line together.With less than a week before the start of the run, the wonderful Edie (L6CCG) and I stepped in to fill the roles of Wednesday and Gomez Addams, respectively, replacing the isolating Year 10s. Due to the carefully maintained Covid restrictions, we could not actually act on stage with the Year 10 cast.This made their acting a lot more difficult, but regardless they performed incredibly night after night. I personally had so much fun watching their performances live each night; each and every member of the cast was absolutely brilliant.

By the time of our run, we’d come to terms with the loss of our original cast, and then on the penultimate night we were met with glorious news: we had our Year 10s back! With their isolation period over, we were going to cross the finish line together as a full cast. The atmosphere on the final night was truly electric with our Year 10 actors able to be there with us for the final night. As expected, both gave amazing performances — an impressive feat considering that this was without the extra week of working on the show that the rest of us had.

The show was an indisputable triumph — a success enhanced all the more by the fact that we could finally welcome in a live audience for the first time since pre-Covid times. Reviews were unanimous in their praise, and those of us who worked on the production will remember it fondly forever. In nine months, we all feel that we created something truly special. Together we survived the endless trials of Covid-19, but only due to the tireless devotion of the cast, crew, band, and the wonderful team that is Emanuel’s Drama department.