COVID-19 doomed performances last year
After a year without a full production, Hull High School Theatre Arts is back with William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.”
After their 2020 spring play, “The Laramie Project,” was cancelled due to the coronavirus, Hull High School Theatre Arts found ways to adapt, producing a live radio show of “A Christmas Carol” and a recorded version of “Schoolhouse Rock.” However, the entire production team is happy to be able to put on a traditional show again. The only departure from pre-COVID-19 productions will be the appearance of masks, a necessity until the mask mandate is lifted.
Not only will it be the group’s first show on the stage again, “The Tempest” will be the drama program’s first performance with new directors and sisters??? Emily and Erin O’Donnell, who are Hull Theatre Arts alumnae themselves.
“As a first-time director, there’s no place I’d rather be than working with the people I love in a place I love,” Emily says.
Her twin sister??? Erin agrees, saying she is “very excited to come back to my home theater” and to “work with cast and crew to bring theater back to Hull High School after a very long wait.”
Both the cast and crew have worked exceptionally hard to put the play together, with the cast memorizing lines and blocking and the crew working “really hard to build a magnificent set,” according to Paul Jenkins, technical director.
Also part of the team bringing “The Tempest” to the stage is Aidan Guilderson, who is “thrilled to be light designer” and to “bring back life to the Hull theater department.”
The show was originally set to open Nov. 18 but has been postponed. For more information, keep an eye on the Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/HullPSTA/, or on instagram @hullpsta.
Tickets will be sold at the door for $5.
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