Rehearsals Underway for Livestreamed Production
By Katie Kreitzer, Theater Director
December 31, 1969
This summer I attended a webinar session about streaming plays virtually. The streaming company was founded by a former Broadway theater producer Hunter Arnold, who created a platform for streaming plays when COVID-19 hit the United States and forced theaters to create in a new way. What I remember most about the webinar was his comments pertaining to theater people. He said, “Theater people are solution-oriented. Because it’s such a roll-up-your-sleeves business, theater people figure it out.” Perhaps I just needed to hear something positive about my profession, but I agree with his analysis of theater-makers. We are not making theater in the same way, but we are making theater. We know it’s not the same, but in order to continue to make theater happen, we need an audience to view the work. So, please support drama via online streaming. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see the ingenuity.
Speaking of on-line streaming…..Mark your calendars for February 4 – 7 for CDH Theater’s first live stream film production, "She Kills Monsters" by Qui Nguyen. Audiences will see a film of our show thanks to our new green screen and assistance from John TeErick ’12 who is a Chicago-based independent filmmaker and editor. Due to the governor’s order, rehearsals have been taking place over Zoom. (see photo) Once we are ready to rehearse in person, students will run their scenes (individually) in front of the green screen donated to CDH theater by Kurt Schmidt '06 and his family. The green screen allows us to have one actor socially distanced as they perform safely. Like a big jigsaw puzzle we will edit and piece the performances together for a complete play! It’s definitely new territory, but the CDH theater kids never cease to amaze.
"She Kills Monsters" is a comedic voyage into the role-playing game of Dungeons and Dragons. A tale about D and D is not something I would be interested in reading much less directing. However, I noticed that the play was being produced a lot through university theater programs and was the number one produced high school play in 2014 which piqued my interest. After reading it, I realized that the show was much more than a comedy about a sci-fi role-playing game.
"She Kills Monsters" is also a drama about a young girl, Agnes, whose sister recently died. As Agnes works through her grief, she discovers her sister’s D and D journal and starts to learn about the game to learn more about her sister. The play switches between reality and the fantasy world of the game. The play also deals with intense bullying and stresses the message of accepting people for who they are. Even if you don’t know a dungeon from a dragon, I think you will still find something to like about this show. A little comedy. A little drama. A lotta amazingness.