CLUB NEWS
Student-directed virtual Shakespeare play announced for spring 2021
JAN 20, 2021
JAN 20, 2021
ASB representative Ellery Yasumoto reports on auditions for Iambic Pentameter's 2020–21 season (Tiger News Network)
Iambic Pentameter, the Shakespeare branch of the Drama Club, has officially confirmed their 2020–21 Shakespeare play, a Zoom adaptation of 1599 comedy Much Ado About Nothing. The particular show was originally selected for the 2019–20 season but was postponed indefinitely due to a series of administrative obstacles, coupled with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. 2020 marked the first year in recent history in which no production came from Iambic Pentameter; the most recent play, A Midsummer Night's Dream, ran during the last two weeks of January 2019, exactly two years before the upcoming 2021 season tryouts.
The audition announcement dropped on Monday morning's TNN. Interested actors can attend one of two audition sessions over Zoom, either January 25 or 27, from 3:30–5:30, during which they will cold-read their preference from a prepared selection of Shakespearean monologues. Callbacks will be held on January 29, after which the cast list will be released via Instagram immediately upon completion.
While auditions are being held in late January, rehearsals will not commence until mid-February due to the limited run of Drama Club's virtual play The Party Hop from February 11–13 and the time-intensive technical rehearsals leading up to it. More detailed schedules for Much Ado About Nothing will be distributed to actors in the near future. The show will be pre-recorded over Zoom over the course of several weeks, and will be available to watch for free on YouTube during and after an initial livestream in late April 2021.
After conflicts arose from several Drama Club productions in spring 2019, student direction was indefinitely suspended by the San Luis Obispo High School administration. Its return, which was approved by principal Leslie O'Connor in November 2020, is largely in part to the virtual nature of the production and its supervision by Drama adviser Ms. Eben. Eben is working closely with director Ian McKay, who took over Iambic Pentameter in 2019, on the planning and execution of the play; Eben is additionally making all casting decisions herself to eliminate the potential for bias on the director's part (a recurring issue with past student directors).
Actors who wish to try out can access the Zoom auditions from the Drama Club Google Classroom, or if not already enrolled, register with the form linked in the January 20 TNN broadcast.
The audition announcement dropped on Monday morning's TNN. Interested actors can attend one of two audition sessions over Zoom, either January 25 or 27, from 3:30–5:30, during which they will cold-read their preference from a prepared selection of Shakespearean monologues. Callbacks will be held on January 29, after which the cast list will be released via Instagram immediately upon completion.
While auditions are being held in late January, rehearsals will not commence until mid-February due to the limited run of Drama Club's virtual play The Party Hop from February 11–13 and the time-intensive technical rehearsals leading up to it. More detailed schedules for Much Ado About Nothing will be distributed to actors in the near future. The show will be pre-recorded over Zoom over the course of several weeks, and will be available to watch for free on YouTube during and after an initial livestream in late April 2021.
After conflicts arose from several Drama Club productions in spring 2019, student direction was indefinitely suspended by the San Luis Obispo High School administration. Its return, which was approved by principal Leslie O'Connor in November 2020, is largely in part to the virtual nature of the production and its supervision by Drama adviser Ms. Eben. Eben is working closely with director Ian McKay, who took over Iambic Pentameter in 2019, on the planning and execution of the play; Eben is additionally making all casting decisions herself to eliminate the potential for bias on the director's part (a recurring issue with past student directors).
Actors who wish to try out can access the Zoom auditions from the Drama Club Google Classroom, or if not already enrolled, register with the form linked in the January 20 TNN broadcast.