Next week sees the digital release of Epsom College’s new senior production, aptly titled Stories from an Unprecedented Time. Ahead of the full release on 11 December, we are delighted to be able to share with you a sneak preview of this original show.
Stories From an Unprecedented Time is written by Director of Drama, Miss Rhiannon Johnson and inspired by notes and reflections on lockdown by College pupils, staff, families and the NHS staff who lived onsite for the duration of the first lockdown.
“This production seemed the logical thing to do,” explains Miss Johnson. “Theatre is created to comment on things which occur in our society and the world around us and the understatement of the year is that Covid-19 has affected us all. Additionally, the fact that theatre is a live medium, where audiences are so vital, made me question how the Arts would survive and continue.
“I knew that when we returned to School in September the unknown would haunt us; rehearsals are hard enough to schedule at the best of times, so how would we manage under the new ‘Covid Rule’? Writing an original play offered the flexibility we needed to work around the many hurdles we might face.
“It was imperative that the students were given a voice, to explore their journey and reactions to this experience. I came up with a 14-episode structure (inspired by 14 days in isolation), loosely following the unravelling events from January to the release date of the production in December. I felt that the piece should have a personal authenticity therefore I requested staff, parents, pupils, and the NHS staff living at the College to send me their reflections on their lockdown experience.
“These individual musings helped shape some of the characters and dialogue created. Each episode was given a title, covering a key element of the past 12 months. I wrote some of the episodes and then allocated each cast year group bubble their own specific episodes to develop and write.
“I was pleasantly surprised when we ended up with the largest senior play cast we’ve had in a good few years; a sign that the pupils were keen to get back into the rehearsal room, whatever form that may take.
I am exceptionally proud of the cast. They have wholeheartedly committed to this new way of producing a senior production and haven’t moaned once that ‘it isn’t like normal shows’
“I realised that we would have to create a hybrid of live theatre and film: the end product would need to be a digital release rather than a performance in front of a live audience. This meant we could film scenes as we went, rather than risking waiting until December for the final performance. I was determined that the pupils would have an end product of some form and their hard work would not be wasted.
“Since November it has been increasingly challenging to film scenes when multiple pupils have been absent. However, with a lot of grit, determination, flexible thinking, pupils filming from home or joining us via Teams in the rehearsal room we have managed to produce Stories From an Unprecedented Time. It is not theatre as we know it, but it is a reflection of the world we are living in presently.”
Stories From an Unprecedented Time will be digitally released on Friday 11 December.
