Not Your Typical Halloween Show! SCH Players Go Virtual

Not to be deterred by the inability to perform on stage for a live audience, this fall SCH Players will be performing and live streaming the one-act comedy, All I Really Need to Know, I Learned from Being a Zombie by Jason Pizzarello, for their devoted SCH fans and the community at-large. The show will be available through Broadway on Demand on Halloween Weekend: Friday, October 30, and Saturday, October 31, at 7:30 PM.
 
All rehearsals have been held virtually through Google Meet or Zoom. The students have worked tirelessly on script and character development through scene work and monologues, the exploration of space within the frame of the screen, and the physicality of getting into their “zombie bodies.” Each actor is in charge of prepping their performance space with their props, microphone, camera and lighting, and doing their own hair and makeup at home—whether human or zombie! 
 
Players Technical Director Daria Maidenbaum shared: “Bringing the technical elements of theatre to a virtual production meant revamping our whole approach. Our crew calls occurred via Zoom, where I’d split groups of students into breakout rooms depending on what element they were working on. On any given night, our makeup crew might have discussed what we’d need to create individual zombie makeup kits for each actor, or tested how to make video tutorials for each look, while the students focusing on streaming and communication would be exploring different programs and add-ons that might work best.”  
 
Rather than just using a Zoom webinar, or connecting via Google Meet to a streaming platform, Maidenbaum will be using a program called Streamlabs OBS to elevate the show. She adds, “This gives us more control—essentially turning my computer into the control room of a tv broadcast—so we can put different things on the screen, add backgrounds or text and create a stream that doesn’t just look like a Zoom meeting. It’s been an interesting and challenging pivot to explore bringing our typical student involvement in the tech process and our expected production quality to this digital and remote realm.”
 
Players Director Meghan Rogers describes the play as a “deeply rich text that is intimate, humorous, and epic in its commentary about the human condition and experience. Playing on the idea of being an outsider or an ‘other,’ the show takes a deep dive into identity, gender, bias, race, stereotypes, family dynamics, searching for community, and zombies as a misunderstood race, but in an accessible and relatable manner. It is a real discussion of a path forward towards diversity and acceptance for all types of people and is incredibly relevant and important today. However, All I Really Need to Know, I Learned from Being a Zombie is also infused with incredible comedic and memorable moments! This is not your typical Halloween show!”
 
Buy your tickets at Broadway on Demand and then return to the same links at showtime to view the live-streamed production:

• Friday 10/30 at 7:30 PM Tickets
• Saturday 10/31 at 7:30 PM Tickets

The show is rated PG-13 for Halloween and includes adult themes.
 
Synopsis from PlayScripts: “In today's chaotic, challenging world, we often don't know where to turn for help. Little did we know that life's most valuable lessons lie within the undead. Finally, zombies engage us with musings on life, death, and everything in between. They show us that brains aren't everything...you are what you eat...and what doesn't kill you makes you...more alive. Touching on themes of gender, bias, race, stereotypes, and family structures, this play is a funny, introspective and sometimes intimate observation of what the zombies around us in our everyday life, and the zombies in ourselves, do to lessen the potential of the human existence and condition.”

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