Indian River’s theater group moves from stage to screen

TOWN OF PHILADELPHIA, N.Y. (WWNY) - From the stage to the screen, the Indian River theater department made the show go on this school year.

When the pandemic hit, the department’s students and faculty were sent home.

But, instead of closing the curtains until COVID-19 left center stage, the group decided that the show must still go on.

So, starting in fall, members acted out their productions online using Zoom. The shows were so good some of them won awards.

“I figured okay, theater is about story telling so, how to I tell a story with this medium,” said Kristie Farr, theater teacher.

One way was to include photography and interesting Zoom backgrounds to make each show as engaging as possible.

But dealing with technology can be difficult. Just as high school senior Kristen Masek.

“It was just very weird to look at a screen instead of stage,” she said.

For some of the shows, she was a stage manager, which gets tricky when there’s no stage.

“People weren’t really moving around so I couldn’t write down their blocking because they were sitting or standing behind their screen,” said Masek.

On screen, high school senior TaeJean LaCroix got to sharpen his acting skills.

“I’m just glad that I was able to perform,” he said.

For the last year, online is how the shows went on, but there is great hope that the young actors of Indian River will take the stage again next fall.

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