The show must go on
Dr Lori Leigh’s theatre production of Princess Boy Wonder faced its season being cut short as a result of COVID-19, but when BATS Theatre suggested livestreaming the performance, it meant that the show could go on.
“This wasn’t at all unexpected given what was happening at the time. BATS had been following closely advice from the Ministry of Health and consulting with other theatres on a daily basis. Then BATS had the idea to livestream the show on the Friday night [20 March] as a kind of test,” says Dr Leigh.
Dr Leigh and Princess Boy Wonder actor and Victoria University of Wellington alumnus George Fowler (aka Hugo Grrrl) were keen to give it a go. Despite Dr Leigh’s mixed emotions about the loss of the liveness which makes theatre performances so special, she was excited to be able to share the work with as many people as possible, including friends and family overseas who would not have had the opportunity to see it.
“BATS’ random stage seats about 80 patrons, but around 200 people saw the livestream. In the end, I felt overwhelmingly positive about this way of presenting theatre. The liveness was not lost, only mediated. It also brought to the forefront another specialty of theatre—bringing people together,” says Dr Leigh.
“To livestream the show seemed to be a way of not only bringing joy and love to others in a time of darkness, but also saying “we can endure” and find new modes of doing our art. There is hope. There is also opportunity. We are creatives. There are new possibilities.”
This was the first time that Dr Leigh had livestreamed a show and it is something she is interested in exploring as a creative and academic.
“At this moment in history, the world needs stories and artists more than ever, so it feels important to be storytelling and sharing in whatever ways are accessible to us, and this is a key benefit of livestreaming—accessibility.”
George Fowler adds, “Doing the live stream was amazing. It felt so good to bring people joy in such a dark time, to do the show once more, and to reach audiences that we couldn’t have reached without the magic border-crossing capabilities of the internet. I can’t wait to see where the technical advances this lockdown has necessitated will take us next.”
BATS used Dacast and OBS software to bring the production to the ‘at-home’ audience. Professor David O’Donnell wrote a review from his audience experience for TheatreReview.
Flexibility and creativity have been tested by the growing social restrictions and the lockdown, but the arts sector is adapting. The New Zealand Fringe Festival livestreamed their awards show on Sunday 22 March, with Princess Boy Wonder nominated in four categories: Best in Fringe, Outstanding Performer (George Fowler), Grand Design, and Melbourne Fringe Tour-ready Award. It won the last two.
Princess Boy Wonder will be part of the Melbourne Fringe, which announced this week that it would go forward with new dates (moved to November) and is planning for every contingency—from the same room to socially distant to completely virtual.