Jamie Lammers, Nederland. It’s been an insane year for theater all over the world. Taking appropriate precautions for Covid-19 means that live performances have had to be canceled, but thespians can’t just abandon something that is so ingrained in who they are or that might even be part of their livelihoods. Digital performances via Zoom and other video-calling apps have increased in popularity since the beginning of the pandemic. After the cancellation of Nederland Middle-Senior High School’s production of Urinetown back in April 2020, it seemed inevitable that future quarantine performances from the school would go this route. Theater and choir director Elizabeth Evans and the passionate members of troupe 2718 have found a way to make those digital performances work and keep their theater program going.

The majority of this year’s fall plays, which were published in a private YouTube playlist (one of three published earlier this month), were performed as audio productions through Google Meets in order to accommodate for the difficulty of blocking and performing at home and to work around schedule conflicts with students also involved in sports. However, one of the plays was performed and filmed as a Zoom production. The Final Rose, directed by Skylar Abookire and Lucy Schalz, who also star in the show as technicians behind a successful dating show (hosted by characters played by Blue Garcia-Pane and Opal Kinnikin). While tensions arise on camera as a young bachelor (James Kaye) struggles to choose between three women he finds equally incredible (Ande Hammers, Aliyah Boogard, and Annabel Ivey) the technicians have to work through their own off-camera drama. The performances are charming across the board, as is the script. It’s a story that pokes fun at the dating game show format and demonstrates how difficult love is to find, even when a TV show tries to make it look easy.

The first audio drama, or “radio play,” to come out of this year’s fall plays is a redux of a play previously performed at Nederland, The New Margo, directed by Townes Bakke and Rowan Harper. In this show, the titular character (played by Alex Beruman-Gonzalez) suddenly reappears after disappearing for the night. The majority of her friends (Alex Jaffe, Natalie Taylor, and Ely Nitsch) don’t question this sudden disappearance, but one of them (Meagan Figgins) believes this person is not, in fact, the real Margo and sets out to prove it to the others. The other two radio plays, both directed by Meagan Figgins and Natalie Taylor, were purposefully combined into one video to emphasize their contrasting tones, and they both consist of the same cast: Alex Beruman-Gonzalez, Lucy Schalz, Skylar Abookire, Dean Howell, Rowan Harper, and Townes Bakke. 

In the first radio play, The Canterville Ghost (in which director Figgins also appears as a property settler), a noble family (Bakke, Abookire, Howell, and the lead, Beruman-Gonzalez) move into a mansion (housekept by Schalz) that is haunted by a tired and lonely ghost (Harper).

In the second radio play, Sorry, Wrong Number, a young woman (Abookire) tries desperately to contact someone who can help after she’s accidentally connected to a line where two men (Beruman-Gonzalez and Bakke) discuss sinister plans. Unfortunately, she can’t get past a clueless operator (Schalz), an unhelpful chief operator (Howell), and a lazy police officer (Harper). All of these audio dramas allow the actors the unique opportunity to experiment with their versatility through just their voices. In addition, the sound effects and editing by technicians Ben Nichols and Zach Weiner (who also edited The Final Rose) create the illusion that the shows are actually being played on the radio, even including the edition of a Purina Meow Mix ad between Figgins’s and Taylor’s shows.

The school also continued its tradition of the fall play talent show. Typically, the in-person auditions involve Ms. Evans and other Nederland students judging the acts, resulting in multiple talent show acts interspersed between each play. To accommodate for Covid-19, however, students sent in videos for judgement and the top three videos were uploaded to a second playlist. The typical cash prize for the top three winners was retained, with the third place winner receiving a prize of $25, the second place of $50, and the first place of $100. Natalie Taylor won third place for a guitar-and-harmony-driven performance of Angelica’s Room by War is Over, Annabel Ivey and Skylar Abookire won second place for a duo vocal/ukulele performance of This Will Be Our Year by The Zombies, and Keahi and Aya Pelkhum-Donahue won first place for their performance of The Swan by C. Saint-Saens, with Aya on piano and Keahi on cello.

Along with continuing fall play performances, Nederland students attended the 56th Colorado Thespian Conference in early December 2020 from the comfort of their homes, with many of them submitting individual events for consideration for performing at the International Thespian Festival (uploaded to a third playlist). 

Alexandra Beruman-Gonzalez received an overall superior rating for a solo monologue performance, as did Skylar Abookire for a solo musical number performance, qualifying them for the Thespian Festival. Beruman-Gonzalez and Meagan Figgins received an overall excellent rating for a duo musical number performance. Figgins also received many callbacks for an audition for a college scholarship, which consisted of an upbeat musical number and a dramatic monologue. Finally, Rowan Harper and Townes Bakke received an overall excellent rating for their original short film, Heretic, released under their label Waffle Brothers Entertainment. Made with additional help both behind the scenes and in front of the camera from Ben Nichols, Zach Weiner, and Hakan Chunton. The film follows a young man (Bakke) who finds himself in a deadly situation after hitching a ride with a compulsive priest (Jamie Lammers). While the Thespian Conference didn’t go the way that everyone hoped it would, the students that attended have still found their own way to make it a successful one.

In fact, that statement applies to all of the theatrical efforts that Nederland has continued this year as they demonstrate that they refuse to let Covid-19 get in the way of their passion for performing and expressing themselves through film, music, and theater. While Ms. Evans didn’t officially direct a show this year, she had an absolute blast seeing the dedication and passion that the student directors, actors, and technicians poured into making the shows come to life in the best way possible. 

In fact, Ned’s theatrical efforts are not over yet. On February 22, 2021, Nederland will join a Virtual Theater Showcase hosted by Boulder High School that allows high school students to lead workshops on theater games, improv, make-up, and stage combat, among other subjects, aimed at middle schoolers. In addition, Nederland students are currently having discussions about continuing the spring musical, what show they’ll pick, and how they’ll work around the current conditions to perform it. The drive that Nederland theater students have is clear, and while they will all be thrilled when in-person performances resume, it’s even more evident that no matter what happens, they’ll find a rewarding way to participate in the program they love.

(Originally published in the January 28, 2021, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)