There have been many changes on campus due to COVID-19. One area that has been especially affected is Theatre and the changes they have had to face to keep putting on shows.

Kendra Clauser, program chair of Theatre and professor, talked about how theatre is still able to put on plays even with the precautions against COVID-19 taking place. Clauser talked about how they “cannot have a traditional audience”  but can live stream performances.

Clauser talked about how the cast has to wear masks while on stage and has to keep the six feet social distance as much as possible. She also talked about how the actors also have little plastic objects that are made for the masks to help them be heard more clearly.

Clasuer said she was“amazed” at the amount of work all around the country and world being done to present more dynamic, online shows.

Elizabeth Krusenklaus, a math and theater major and an actress, was interviewed about how she felt about the changes. Krusenklaus talked about how it is harder with a mask “because when you’re on stage you have to really project your voice” so the mask makes it “harder because you have to really project your voice”  to make sure that they can be heard and understood. 

To her she feels that practices have stayed the same other than having social distance, but otherwise mostly the same. She then talked about the positive effects for her of COVID-19 on theatre which is, “It really opened my eyes to how much theatre meant to me.” This shows how passionate one of the actors is and the other probably feel the same.

The theatre program’s recent production of “Little Red and the Hoods” is available online.