The Trinity theatre community has been engulfed by the colossal wave of change brought on by the pandemic. While Michaelmas term restrictions relocated the college’s theatrical societies, DU Players and Trinity Musical Theatre (TMT), to an entirely virtual existence, the Trinity drama department persevered in courageous attempts to maintain in-person classes. This determination bore fruit when three live debut productions were staged last semester in the Samuel Beckett theatre without one coronavirus case.
However, the deterioration in public health in January forced the department, its final-year students and the staff of the Samuel Beckett Theatre to reach a mutual conclusion: the five remaining in-person productions and solo capstone projects in the Samuel Beckett would be cancelled, signalling a cessation of live performance in the space for the remainder of term. This brought dilemmas for all year groups who were set to partake, but it’s the final-year students who have been apportioned with the greatest challenge: the cancellation of their capstone productions.
Final-year directing students were faced with a choice: either adapt their proposed capstone production to an online medium – quickly – or submit a portfolio outlining their intended creative process. Not only would this decision impact their degree, but those of other design, performance or management students who had opted to work on a debut production as their capstone project, and students being graded for five or 10 credit placement modules. Two productions, which were adapted for online earlier in the year, went unaffected.
Final-year directing students were faced with a choice: either adapt their proposed capstone production to an online medium – quickly – or submit a portfolio outlining their intended creative process
Though these cancellations were made with the honourable intent of protecting the health of those involved, and in line with similar cancellations campus-wide, they are no less momentous. Breaking a long history of practical experience in the professional setting of the Samuel Beckett, questions as to how this will affect the current cohort of burgeoning artists have to be asked.
Recent graduate Natasha Duffy, who is currently studying for a masters in Stage Design and Dramaturgy in The Lir Academy, considers her three-year experience of working on debuts and staging her own in 2019, “invaluable”. In an email to The University Times, she emphasises how valuable this facet of the degree programme is in preparing students for the “working world of theatre and design” by providing “a strong foundation in understanding the mechanics of the theatre”. Duffy, who is currently co-designing the stage for the RTÉ Choice Music Awards, says that her work in the Beckett “without a doubt” aided her transition from student to professional theatre maker: “Thankfully, due to the experience I had gained, I knew the theatre very well and knew how we could utilise it. I left Trinity very confident in the theatre space and with a template for how to work in theatre spaces.”
Final-year student Antonia Brady, whose directing Debut Donkey, had been scheduled for week four, tells The University Times that these cancellations have generated great anxiety: “I think our entire year group is acutely conscious of how competitive the theatre industry can be, and I am worried about the repercussions of this cancellation.”
Speaking about her class of 2021, who also lost out on directing assessments in the Samuel Beckett when the pandemic hit, Brady believes that “this lack of practical experience and learning means that we could be at a disadvantage when trying to break into the industry”. She impresses that the cancellations have also prompted further concern amongst students about meeting the practical requirements for certain masters programmes.
“I think our entire year group is acutely conscious of how competitive the theatre industry can be, and I am worried about the repercussions of this cancellation”
Like Brady, final-year student Lucie Broussin views the future as a daunting prospect. “I’m not sure what is going to happen – the industry is just not working. We are not able to do any theatre in education anymore”, she asserts with dismay. “I know that people want to gain more experience – for example, a masters degree – however, you don’t want to be spending €20,000 for it to be the same as this year, wondering what is next.”
Working as a designer on four debuts, Broussin feels very grateful to have had only one cancelled, “as others haven’t been able to showcase any of their work”. The pandemic has impacted all theatre artists, however its consequences have been particularly harsh for designers – a fact that she is very much aware of. When working on a show visually and conceptually for a long period with a production team, “seeing the pieces in person coming into being is so important”, she maintains, “especially for those who maybe aren’t as academically inclined”. Noting that there are fewer designers in her class than the years below them. Broussin, who is the debut committee’s student designer liaison, hopes that, “people don’t get discouraged by the fact that they aren’t able to do their designs in person”.
The committee’s student director liaison, Mae-Sula Leahy, may have narrowly avoided cancellation when her debut production Bedtime Stories was staged in Michelmas term, but the prevailing restrictions still had a huge impact on her directorial experience. “It was really bizarre because you’re directing for a camera and a stream show rather than a live show which is something you’re not really trained for”, she explains. “There’s a new priority in the room – it’s not just artistic integrity and creativity, it’s safety as well.”
Leahy believes that making theatre under rigorous safety protocols may have offered a silver lining to students in an otherwise precarious time. “We’ve lost a lot which is obviously out of everyone’s control… there’s no way we could have gotten that [experience] safely”, she remarks in regard to the recent cancellations. However, she suspects that for her graduating class of 2021, firsthand “experience with covid protocols…might make it easier to try and get our feet in the door”.
“There’s a new priority in the room – it’s not just artistic integrity and creativity, it’s safety as well”
There is no doubt that these cancellations will create a ripple of consequences, and so, was this the only option the department had left? The students emphasise that, due to health and safety concerns at play, there was no other choice. Brady emphasises that the community involved is greater than just the final-year class: “The technical staff working at the Beckett also put tremendous amounts of work in to ensure these shows happen, and I think we as students acknowledge this, and completely recognise that this decision was made with everyone’s safety in mind, and safety, of course, should remain the priority.”
Broussin who, alongside Leahy, sat on the debut committee that came to the decision, notes that, “in the end it was inevitable”: “The reality of it is, we should be reasonable – we shouldn’t put people in danger.”
The future, however, is not entirely gloomy. Brady points out that, in a letter circulated to students announcing the cancellation, it was outlined that the department will “seek to make presentation available” for the cancelled shows later on in the year, where possible. “I am quite hopeful that some of the shows may return when it is safe to do so”, she adds. Hope therefore remains that life could be breathed into these shows in the future.
