Drama club produces virtual show “The Radio Play Disaster”

The Gloucester High Drama Club’s fall show is now available to stream. 

Called  “The Radio Play Disaster”  this comedic masterpiece depicts the directorial misadventure of Harlan Bean, a writer prepared to put on the performance of his latest work, Battle of the Planets, on live radio. Unfortunately, a several last minute changes, a disgruntled sound technician, and a cast of actors who have their own rogue interpretations of script sends what could have been a straightforward production off the rails. 

The show represents the culmination of months of hard work and inventive thinking. Though originally written to be put on in person, it was adapted by the theatre program to a hybrid version. All rehearsals took place over remotely, over Google Meet.  

“It was definitely a different experience than our normal process, but using an online platform for rehearsing and recording will help us develop skills we’ll need to use going forward,” said Club President Tessa Bushfield, ”Overall, it was still fun and I’m excited to see the final product. I feel very lucky that we got to do it despite everything that’s going on.”

Since the performance could not be put on live, filming and video editing took on a new importance. Actors shared several sets of recording kits, with camera and sound equipment provided by the Gloucester Education Foundation.   

“Editing a play for the first time was definitely not easy. No one on the production team had done something of this scale before,” explained sophomore Treely Dowd, “In the end, most of the work fell on me which I was (and still am) happy to do. There’s so much room to improve for the spring musical, and I look forward to seeing how we can streamline the process.”

The challenges and rewards of bringing their talents from stage to screen were shared by all cast and crew members. Drama teacher and director Jessica Kirk summed up their sentiment: “It was a learning experience. We hit some time constraints that I had hoped to avoid, and then obviously with something involving tech there are bound to be tech mishappens. We had cameras freezing, people forgetting to turn on their mics, recorded videos came out with no sound, etc. But I think everybody really persevered and, to quote Tessa, embrace the chaos. That’s kind of been the theme of this show.” 

The play runs about 45 minutes and is appropriate for viewers of all ages.

Virtual tickets can be purchased here and provide access to unlimited views between today and Saturday evening. The link to buy can also be found through the QR code below.

WHAT: The GHS Drama Club’s production of The Radio Play Disaster 

WHEN: February 11th to February 13th 

WHERE: The comfort and safety of your own home 

HOW: Click this link to buy unlimited streams