By Thomas Haak ’23

COVID-19 has drastically changed sports, normal life and fine arts. Many elements of music and theater are not possible if one wears a mask, so Brophy theater has changed dramatically.

Brophy theater has taken a different approach, not requiring masks while the plays are going on, but requiring masks at all other times. 

“We are going to follow the sports’ guidelines if there are scenes where students are six feet apart and fewer than ten in the scene, they don’t need masks,” said Ms. Carolyn Wright, the theater program director. They will rehearse and practice with masks on at all times, but when the time for the show comes they will not wear them with the right precautions. 

According to the US National Library of Medicine’s National Institutes of Health, students must wear “at least cloth face masks. Singing is possible with a mask.”

In order to remain socially distanced, Ms. Wright said the students will be “In Eller, using multiple floors using Zoom and a traveling audience, so people can be in socially distanced groups.” 

While parts of the shows will be filmed, most of the show is for a live audience. Their goal is to be able to present the show in a hybrid format: streaming the show online and socially distancing their in-person audience at the event. For most of the country, “Theatres may be closed, but you can always get a stagey fix online,” said Alex Wood from WhatsOnStage.

No events have been pushed back and are remaining on the same schedule that was planned from the beginning of the year. They have just begun to work on the fall play, which is created by students, and it is focusing on race and inclusion. The Brophy Theater Club is working with The Hermanos Unidos, Black Student Union, KBI(Kino Border Initiative) Teens, Advocacy Club, and the Brophy Culture Project to help create the play.