The Gorham High School (GHS) One Act is going virtual this year, performing “Vintage Hitchcock,” by Joe Landry, a collection of classic Hitchcock murder mysteries: “The Lodger,” ”Sabotage,” and “39 Steps.”
The show will be available for viewing on Broadway On Demand Friday, March 12 and Saturday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, March 14 at 2 p.m.
In a normal year, the GHS Theatre would have chosen one act of these three mysteries to perform in-person at the Regional One Acts Festival and perhaps even proceed to the statewide festival as they have the past three years. However, the Regional Festival has gone remote this year due to Covid-19 restrictions. The competition portion of the Festival has also been removed, allowing performers to focus on creating a fun, invigorating show both on and off stage.
GHS will submit the performance of “39 Steps” to the Festival which will happen on March 19 and 20.
Poster credit Emily DuncanThe changes, although difficult to adjust to, mean that the Festival will be more exciting than in the past for Southern Maine performers. GHS has chosen to perform via Zoom webinar, but other participating schools have chosen other platforms such as made for Zoom plays or in-person masked performances.
“Vintage Hitchcock” director and GHS English teacher, Josie Tierny-Fife, expressed her enthusiasm for the 2021 Festival regarding the variety of inventive performance formats being used.
“That’s what is going to be really fun about [the] Festival. Everyone’s starting from scratch and coming up with different solutions to the problems or challenges,” said Tierny-Fife.
The unprecedented nature of the Festival this year has called for immense creativity. Each performer conducted their audition via Zoom and will be performing the show alone in a classroom with all the necessary lighting and costumes at their side. This format allows the tech crew to construct a realistic backdrop for each performer, which will flow between Zoom profiles.
GHS Theatre put on a similarly formatted Zoom webinar performance of “It’s a Wonderful Life” in November. The introduction of socially-distanced plays this year has been a complete departure from traditional shows.
As director of both plays, Tierney-Fife expressed that she is “incredibly impressed by how hard our GHS actors have worked.”
“Vintage Hitchcock” cast member and president of the GHS Thespian Society, Emily Paruk, spoke on adjusting to Zoom performances. “I’m not actually seeing my cast-mates when I’m acting. I’m alone in my room staring at my closet and pretending I’m talking to my scene partner. It took some getting used to, but it’s incredible how quickly you can pick up your partner’s speech and movements and place them in the room beside you. We are still able to form a connection through the screen,” said Paruk.
Paruk expressed that the 2021 One Act has been “so creatively invigorating. We’re constantly problem-solving and thinking of new ways to pass props through the camera, use sound effects, or change the lighting to name a few.”
As for the novel technical aspects of the show, Paruk said she is “excited to create the appearance that we are actually together. This show makes me feel as if we hold the power to break down the Zoom walls that divide us and bring the actors, crew, and community members all a little bit closer.”
The GHS Theatre chose “Vintage Hitchcock” for its riveting nature and adaptability to Zoom webinar. The play was originally written as a radio play and translates well to Zoom. The play will consist of three separate stories: “The Lodger,” with a cast of six; “Sabotage” with a cast of eleven; and “39 Steps,” with a cast of 10. Each act has a different cast with some cast members appearing in more than one act.
It should be noted that “Vintage Hitchcock” does include murder and suspense, so parental discretion is advised for young children.
Tickets will be available for reservation on the GHS Broadway On Demand. Prices will be at viewer’s discretion. Recommended prices are $5 for a single viewer, $10 for multiple viewers, and $20 if you would like to donate to the GHS Theatre Department.