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This year, director Alex Barlow and the cast of “The Importance of Being Earnest” have been put up to the challenge of producing a play in the midst of a worldwide pandemic. With masks, a double cast and students getting quarantined, things have gotten a little crazy, but they have managed to rise above the conflicts and press forward.
“The top priority of the show is to create a fun, light, funny play,” Barlow said. “With how everything is going in the world right now in 2020, I think we all just wanted some more lightness and fun.”
Barlow really wanted to make an environment where people could come watch the show to laugh and have a good time without thinking about all the chaos in the world.
“‘The Importance of being Earnest’ is a really fun show,” said Rory Anderson, who plays the role of Algernon in the play. …”It’s very funny, it’s witty, it’s quick…It’s wonderful on many levels.”
All the members of the cast felt like it was a better idea to do a light funny play, rather than “Drum Taps,” the play they were originally going to perform.
“It’s hilarious, it’s really good, everyone should come see it,” said Harrison Cook, who plays the role of Jack. “We all need the laughs.”
Although everyone seems to love the show itself, Covid has caused some problems.
“I am nervous about the timing of it all,” said Barlow.
With the large increase in Covid cases in the last month, the entire drama department has been anxious about continuing the show. At the very beginning of the Covid outbreak, their show “Drum Taps” was canceled just two weeks before opening. Barlow’s main concern was that some of the cast members would get quarantined and the show would have to be postponed a second time.
To accommodate for the possibility of students getting quarantined, for the first time in his career, Barlow utilized a double cast.
“They are instructed to stay away from each other,” Barlow said, “so that they both don’t get quarantined at the same time…that way the show can still go on.”
Some problems have risen due to the double cast. Since it isn’t possible to simply double rehearsal times, Barlow has had to instruct twice the amount of actors with the same amount of time he would usually have for one cast.
“My main concern is that we don’t have any extra time to work on the play, but we have to work with two casts,” said Cook.
Cook expressed large concerns on the amount of time given for rehearsals. Since Governor Herbert’s mandate on all extracurriculars being shut down, two weeks of rehearsal time will be cut out, leaving even less time for twice the amount of actors.
“I’m confident that we are capable of doing a good play, but I’m not confident that the circumstances will allow it,” Cook said.
In addition to cutting their rehearsal time in half, the cast also has to rehearse in masks. Various opinions have been presented on this topic. Some believe masks are barely an inconvenience, while others believe that they could make the show much harder.
“I think that it’s made [performing], not necessarily hard, but harder,” said Cook.
Barlow has a very different outlook on masks.
“It’s incredibly difficult for even the best actors to be heard and understood [through masks],” Barlow said.
The question behind it all is: Will they do their final performances in masks? No one knows the answer to this question, or if the cast is even going to be able to perform in front of a live audience.
“We’re just waiting for news from the UHSAA,” (Utah High School Activities Association) Barlow said.
Barlow is in uncharted waters at this point. He is uncertain if masks will be worn, if they will have the opportunity to perform in front of a live audience, if rapid testing will begin, if a recording will need to be made–the list goes on.
But even with all the challenges and tweaks constantly happening with the show, Barlow is still confident that everything will sort itself out.
“We’re putting a lot of love and work into it,” Anderson said.
Although some things are still unsure, the cast was still a tight knit family.
“I think it’s going to be a very fun, great show, and everyone should come see it,” Barlow said.
