By Dylan McDonough
After many weeks of preparation, my Koinonia Drama class performed our assigned plays during quarantine. Despite the challenges and obstacles, our class persevered to end our school year strong.
For the upcoming May Showcase, my Drama Class was going to perform two “Five Minute Mystery” radio shows just like the ones from the 1940’s. They were called The Book Case and Dead Men Do Tell. Each play also had a different commercial, one for Campbell’s Tomato Soup and one for Jello Chocolate Pudding. We also were going to have a song advertising Chiquita Bananas. Unlike other plays we have practiced, this one had sound effects. Four boys were chosen to make these sound effects. Everything seemed to be going fine with the preparation of the production until…as it is well known, the world stopped running.
When the coronavirus pandemic began, all of the Koinonia classes had to be canceled. Fortunately, Mrs. Johnson began to schedule online Zoom meetings so our Drama Class could practice our play. Although now with the May Showcase being canceled, we all were wondering where and how we would perform our play. Soon Mrs. Johnson figured out how to record the meeting and edit it. This meant that we could record ourselves performing the play, have Mrs. Johnson edit it, and then post it on the Koinonia Facebook page so that we would still have a “virtual” performance.
There would have to be many changes to the original plan. We were already thinking of taking out the Chiquita Banana song now that we were meeting online. We also had to learn a lot of new computer skills for our performance. When we were not saying our lines, we had to cover up the camera on our computers so we would not be seen. Another thing we each had to have was a good Internet connection and a blank background when we were recording. Mrs. Johnson also had to learn the different aspects of the Zoom app. All of this was discussed and rehearsed before the last recording was accomplished.
On April 27th, we officially recorded “The Book Case.” I played the Inspector and I had to make the sound effects of a gunshot (using bubble wrap) and a door slamming (using our bathroom door). These were both pretty tricky to pull off while the play was going on. On May 4th, we recorded “Dead Men Do Tell.” Once again, I was in charge of the sound effects which was a gunshot, a door slamming and footsteps (which was high heels). Some of the challenges we faced for our final recordings were people tripping up on their lines, sound effects out of place, forgetting to take mute off, and sometimes screens were not fully covered. Unlike a normal play, we did not have to dress up completely for the final performance. While I had a suit and fedora on, I was actually wearing jeans when we recorded. The girls worked hard to dress up exactly like the 1940’s fashions. Even though it took several times to record the Five Minute Mysteries, we ended up with two final products we all enjoyed.
I would have liked it if we could have performed this play live on stage at the May Showcase. However, since it was a radio show, I think it was actually better that we recorded it on Zoom. The school closings may have slowed people down, but we learned that oftentimes if you really put your mind to it, you can make things work out.
Want to see another Koinonia Kids play on Zoom? My brother Daniel’s drama class also had to perform their final play online. It is Caps for Sale and I really enjoyed the fun energy of the homemade sock puppet monkeys and the special effects. Check it out HERE.
