Pitt-Greensburg plans online radio play version of ‘An Enemy of the People’
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Clayton Gregg, a freshman at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, sees one advantage to the pandemic-driven practice of presenting Zoom versions of theater productions.
“It might be good for someone with stage fright,” he said, to act from the comfort of home.
Gregg will play the part of Peter Stockmann in Pitt-Greensburg’s audio-only production of Henrik Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People,” to be presented at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 7 and 2 p.m. Nov. 8 on Zoom.
The play also will be recorded for wider distribution at a later time. The cast includes 11 students and a pair of alumni.
“It’s a challenging time but, for me, it was really important to do a show. We needed to have a creative outlet,” said director Stephen Schrum, associate professor of theater arts.
“The play I chose works well in a radio play format,” he said.
Gregg’s character is the mayor of a small Norwegian town whose financial health depends on visitors to a local spa. His brother, Dr. Thomas Stockmann, discovers that the spa water is contaminated, leading to conflict over whether the news should be published.
“It was written in the 19th century, but it seems to parallel what’s happening in the world today,” Schrum said. “Just like in the movie, ‘Jaws,’ when the mayor says you can’t shut down the town, Dr. Fauci is now threatened as an enemy of the people.”
“For me, playing the doctor was very personal, because I’m very active in this political climate,” said John Paul Richey, a Pitt-Greensburg theater alumnus. “It’s an interesting study in how you can speak till you’re blue in the face to some people, and still not get the response you want.
“It’s a great play to do at this particular moment,” he said.
Staying connected
While some aspects of the production favor the actors, there are practical challenges to performing on Zoom, Schrum said.
“Not having to be physical makes it easier; and the actors don’t have to learn their lines, they just have to read them,” he said.
“A major concern is that everyone stays connected. Sometimes the Wi-Fi lags. You worry if they’re going to get knocked offline,” he said. “People have warned us that we might get Zoom bombed.”
“One of the big challenges I’ve seen (in rehearsals) is there’s a lot of lag, so the pauses aren’t as smooth as we’d like,” Gregg said.
Because of the Zoom feature that prevents two people from speaking at the same time, he added, “You have to be ready and right on time with your lines.”
To help get into character, Gregg said, Schrum advised the actors to develop a secret trait for their characters.
“I won’t reveal mine, but let’s just say me and my brother have an issue from childhood,” he said.
“An actor is just a storyteller, so it’s a very exciting experience for an actor to have to modify what they would do on stage,” Richey said.
“It’s an interesting challenge, but it’s keeping us going and helping us move forward,” Schrum said.
Information on connecting to the free performances is available at greensburg.pitt.edu.