While this academic year has led the theater department at SUNY Oswego to adapt to numerous changes, both faculty and students show optimism for the future.
As opposed to its typical three plays for the school year, the department has exceeded that tally by producing three shows throughout the fall semester and one this spring, assistant professor Toby Malone said.
“It means that we’ve had a little more flexibility because we don’t have to think, ‘Well, we don’t have the money to build this big set, we don’t have the money to put on these fancy costumes,’” Malone said. “We’ve had to really change the way we look at what theater is. It’s no longer just about being in a theatrical space, but it’s about embracing the fact that theater is more about the performance than it is about being in a building, so we can do these things online for an approximation of sharing this art with people.”
More than most departments, it is a department that depends on live interaction, an audience and being together in the actual theater, Malone said.
“Performing on Zoom means that you had this new opportunity for close-ups, exit camera, turn off your screen and allow different kinds of focuses, which becomes quite cinematic in a way,” Malone said. “You cannot do that on a stage. Not in the same way.”
Similar to Malone, acting and directing professor Jonel Langenfeld-Rial was expecting the last production of the school year to be streamed live, although a series of technological complications, aside from a Student Association funding shortage prevented that from happening as planned.
Elements for the show that required Student Association funding included the green screens that are needed, in addition to lighting and stands, Langenfeld-Rial said.
“In the meantime, we’re dealing with a show that’s funded by [the] Student Association, so they’re having issues with money,” Langenfeld-Rial said. “We weren’t getting our money to pay for things for the show.”
That shortage in funding led the department to carry out the play in a pre-recorded format as opposed to the original intent of live-streaming the show.
“It’s very difficult because, as theater performers, we really respond to that [feedback]. That’s part of why we like to perform live, because we love that immediate reaction,” Langenfeld-Rial said. “Every time you do something live, it’s different. There’s always something different, and that’s the difference between pre-recorded and live. That’s why we still have the difference between live theater and TV and film.”
Both Malone and Langenfeld-Rial recognize that the pandemic has served as an opportunity for students to get better at new technological platforms. Among those students is Abigail Hines, who recently played Van’s Sister in “Dog Sees God.”
“Being online, you’re limited to this box, and you have to stay within the box. A lot of characters are very physical so you want to be able to move out of the box,” Hines said. “We don’t offer any acting in front of the camera classes, so it’s a lot of improvising, adapting and overcoming the problems of transforming this show to an online format.”
Although Hines gained some experience last fall semester in this new theatrical model as part of the cast for “It’s a Wonderful Life,” she acknowledged that performing in front of a screen without a physical audience has been her biggest challenge.
The Oswegonian file photo from 2020
