Sinclair Theater returned for live performances last month with the play “PUFFS”, a comedic retelling of the “Harry Potter” series by J.K. Rowling. The performances ran from May 14-23. All patrons were required to wear a mask and the seats were socially distanced. Sinclair’s Blair Hall Theater, which can normally seat up to 445 people, only had the capacity to hold 90 due to COVID-19 regulations.
The decision to have live performances again was a long process, according to Sinclair’s Theater Department Chair Gina Neuerer. When the shutdown first happened in March of 2020, they were only a couple weeks away from opening the show “Antigone.” The set was already built. In September, instead of performing it live, the show was streamed online with all the actors and chorus members masked and distanced.
“We’ll do ‘PUFFS’ in March, [that] was the original decision,” Neuerer said. “But as we approached Thanksgiving and Christmas and COVID numbers were spiking, we said March is not a good idea, let’s postpone it again further.”
The “PUFFS” performances actually started after the semester was over. They took advantage of the fact that Sinclair is a commuter school and most students don’t leave town for the summer. It just so happened by that time about 75% of the cast and crew were vaccinated.
The show was cast back in November and rehearsals began in March. The decision of whether or not to have the actors wear masks during performances was not made until May. At rehearsals, the actors remained masked the entire time until the Monday before the show opened.
“So that was interesting on May 10, suddenly the masks came off and it’s like wow, we have faces, there’s teeth, there’s a nose,” Neuerer said. “I was very proud of [the actors] and how hard they worked and how they jumped right into that adjustment. They’ve been working on this show since November. They are exhausted.”
Sinclair normally announces their season every April but they do not have one yet for this year.
“There are so many unknowns of what we can and cannot do,” Neuerer said. “We have a variety of scripts in front of us that we would like to do but we’re waiting.”
There will hopefully be four shows next school year; two in the fall and two in the spring. This is less than the normal five or six. Sinclair has just gotten the rights to do “A Charlie Brown Christmas” which is a show they have done for 6 years. Neuerer said she loves how it gives back to the community. They have never raised the price from an affordable $8, and it is free for people who live in adult care homes to make it as accessible as possible. They also have sign language shadow interpreters on stage standing next to the actors.
“None of this is possible without the support of Sinclair’s administration,” Neuerer said. “From the dean of our division, up through the provost and the president and the business office, they have been so supportive of this…They want us to do this and they work with us to find the best way to do it.”
There are still no plans for future shows this year, but with all the support the department has gotten they will be ready to “bring down the house” next year.
Rachel Rosen
Reporter