The show must go on — virtually.
In accordance with the rapid changes and accommodations needed due to the pandemic, the Auburn University Department of Theatre is producing “Blithe Spirit” through Zoom.
“Blithe Spirit” follows the journey of novelist Charles Condomine, who performs a seance with a local medium, Madame Arcati, hoping to find material for his upcoming novel.
During the seance Condomine’s late wife, Elvira, is accidentally invited. Elvira causes disruption and hijinks in her attempts to undermine Condomine’s marriage with his living wife, Ruth.
Scott Phillips, associate professor and the show’s director, has been teaching and directing at Auburn for 20 years, but this is his first show on Zoom.
“[I] feel really lucky to be in a department that’s willing to go to the lengths that it did for its students and patrons,” Phillips said.
He said the staff worked throughout the summer to find some way for the students to take part in theater productions for this semester.
Phillips said a Zoom production was not his first choice.
Initially, Phillips said he wanted to do a socially-distanced and masked live performance. When that was proven impossible to do safely, he said the next plan was to film the show with a three-camera setup and test the cast every week of rehearsal and before shooting.
Phillips said the cast and crew settled on a Zoom production to ensure the safety of the students and audience.
“That was a challenge because Zoom is a static medium,” Phillips said. “You’re trapped in your little box.”
He said the cast and crew worked with a local media group to tweak the limits of Zoom, adding green screens, sound cues, music and graphics to enhance the theatrics of the show. The show switches from a single actor to gallery view to add a spatial effect.
Phillips said the positive that has to come out of the situation is the students are learning to be innovative. Theater is constantly changing, and the way the public consumes theatrical entertainment is changing as well, regardless of COVID-19’s effects, he said.
“We’re always trying to find ways to be relevant to new generations and changing circumstances,” he said.
Phillips said he believes students needing to change their production process three times could be useful in a future where theater performances are quicker processes and have shorter rehearsal times.
“They tackled it with a determinedness that made it successful,” Phillips said.
While the show is available for virtual viewing, he said he believes it does not have the same feel that television shows or movies do.
“It feels a bit like a theater production and a little bit like watching a film and a little bit like neither one, and that’s not a bad thing, it’s just its own thing,” Phillips said.
Tickets to view “Blithe Spirit” are available through the Department of Theatre website. Ticket buyers are sent an access link to be able to view the show beginning Oct. 12 at 12 a.m. through Oct. 18.
The cast and crew are also hosting a Talkback Thursday event to answer questions about the show and its process Thursday, Oct. 15, at 7:30 p.m.
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