Last September, the theater company performed, “The Laramie Project ,” while the past productions had everyone working inside, they had to perform the fall play outside to follow CDC guidelines. 

Khushi Goorochurn, the Stage manager and technical director, helped coordinate the lighting and sound department and made sure everything ran smoothly. While Khushi worked for the high schools theater department for the past two years, she’s never faced anything like this. “It was a lot more stressful, but also brought many of us closer together,” Khushi said. “It was cold and windy but sometimes it was incredibly hot and sunny,  another challenge was building our set outside! We decided to keep it simple but we had to move it in and out of school for most every rehearsal.”

The tech department, along with other members of the production team, had to overcome unpredictable weather, equipment issues, and the on-going pandemic, when putting together the play. In addition to dealing with these new conditions. 

Senior Sarah Griffith played one of the main characters in the show. She also faced many challenges when acting in this new environment.  “I had to learn how to act cold. In costume many of us did not have much shelter from the elements, and I had to learn to not show that,” Sarah said, “I also had to get used to stationary delivery of my lines. Normally in theater it’s about utilizing the space around you and owning a stage during your moment.”

Freshman Milan Thurman played multiple roles in the show. Between cold weather and costume changes, Milan had troubles of his own. “In the latter half, especially in performances when we couldn’t layer up, it started getting really cold, so that was the biggest issue,” Milan said, “but in the beginning half, it was the space, it was kind of odd working with it cause it was so small.”

Heather Mckaig. The director had to find new ways to pull off the production, “It was a completely different world,” Mckaig said, “We needed to work not only in the literal environment of being outside for the first time, but also keep in mind the many necessary restrictions of life during a global pandemic.” “I learned that my kids are even more flexible, smart, and good at problem solving than I already knew they were. I was so impressed with all they were able to do.” 

When doing a production in any venue, there will be certain hurdles that the team will have to jump. The production team at Novi High School had one of the biggest hurdles of having to work in a completely new environment, and they were able to persevere and pull off their production.