The pandemic may have tried to steal the show this past year, but Trinity Vincent de Paul (VDP) is taking it right back.
As we approach the end of another academic year, many students have put extracurriculars on the backburner to focus on assignments. Trinity VDP, however, have been hard at work devising their highly-anticipated 2021 panto, Toy Story: To Infinity And Beyond. The panto, which has even been endorsed online by Trinity researcher and local celebrity Luke O’Neill, will take place online on March 30th.
Speaking with The University Times, Panto Director Daniel Byrne admits that he was “pretty devastated” upon realising that the show would have to take place virtually, but says that the team quickly overcame the disappointment: “You basically just bounce back. If it’s gonna be online, let’s just make it the best and most fun online panto we possibly can.”
The cast and crew have been making the most of Zoom Premium with two-hour rehearsals twice a week. Byrne, a second-year Law and French student, explains how he alleviates the Zoom fatigue many students are experiencing while keeping up regular rehearsals: “The rehearsals have been so varied with what we do. We try to incorporate as many dances or as many games, quizzes, online zoom sort of activities”.
Áine Kennedy, a second-year history and politics student and cast member of the show, says the panto has created new friendships beyond the Zoom box: “I remember one of the members of the cast said to me that, even though we can’t actually meet in person at all, it’s so nice just having a friendly face around”. She explains how some of those involved managed to meet for coffee or in the library, adding that “We didn’t organize that, like it’s just happening naturally, which is really nice”.
Like many societies, Trinity VDP have ramped up their social media presence this year, having created a separate Instagram account for the panto (@pantogram2021), where they post TikToks and other videos.
“I think [social media] has been such a big part of it”, Byrne says. “A lot of people haven’t even realised that we’re still going ahead, despite the fact we’ve been trying to publicise it so much. So since we put out the Facebook profile pictures filters and stuff like that, so many people have come up and said, ‘Oh, panto is actually happening?’”
The increased social media presence has not only expanded the panto’s audience, but bonded its cast, according to Kennedy. “Last week we had a game where everyone posted on their social media or was even just sharing promo events or changing their profile picture.” She believes activities such as this helped build a sense of community, “when you’re going through your stories and like every single person in the cast or committee’s story is the exact same thing”.
Many will be wondering what form the show will take on. Byrne explains why they opted to go hybrid: “We were originally going to do a fully live Zoom panto, but the main difficulty we found was the dancing. Because people’s WiFi speeds were different there ended up being someone finishing the dance like 10 seconds early, or wouldn’t even be able to see anyone else dancing.” Due to this, most of the dances involving the cast groups will be recorded, “and we’re editing them together to look like a Zoom”, Byrne says. However, there will be some dances such as the “couples dance”, consisting of pairs who live together or are in the same social bubbles, which will be performed live. “We kind of like the idea of the dances going wrong. That’s the best part”, adds Byrne.
With its rigorous schedule of after-school clubs and community-based social clubs significantly curtailed due to the pandemic, Trinity VDP has been forced to shift its focus toward alternative forms of funding and community outreach.
Speaking with The University Times, Trinity VDP president Peter Benson acknowledges that this has been a challenging year for the society, and laments the loss of connection between its service users and its student volunteers. “The whole point of VDP is to provide people in socially secluded areas of life with practical assistance, and to raise awareness among students of socially important issues”, he says.
Despite the abrupt curtailment of in-person activities last year, Trinity VDP was able to facilitate phone calls between its students and users of its Jubilee Club, a group for older people who may be experiencing loneliness. Another successful socially-distant innovation has been its letter-writing service which is run by its Street Outreach team and links student volunteers with residents of a Dublin supported-living environment.
The panto is one of Trinity VDP’s biggest fundraisers each year. They have set up a GoFundMe where people can donate via the link in their Instagram bio. Money raised will fund the panto and any excess will be used by Trinity VDP to fund its many activities. For this society, the show must – and will – go on.
Eimear Finan also contributed to this piece.
