When DraMatrics becomes a drama

The year 2020 began much like any other for the DraMatriculants: three seminal texts, three planned live theatre experiences, and three practical performance pieces – a monologue, dialogue, and an own choice (which is an opportunity to highlight one’s specific talent such as musical theatre or movement).

March, too, began like any other on King David Victory Park’s campus – the major production, The Little Shop of Horrors, in the wings and mini-prelims upon return at the start of term two.

Then it hit. A pandemic in our time, in our lifetime. Unprecedented and unfathomable. Locked down and online. Teams, Zoom, Google Meet, Skype. How does one teach dramatic arts in cyberspace? Maybe theory to a certain extent could be taught online, but practical skills?

We all remember, I’m certain, that period of trial and error and the logistics of blended pedagogy, hybrid teaching, and distance learning. Every subject and every discipline grappled with this new discombobulated world.

At first, plans were made to read the texts and watch any productions of said texts on the internet during the online meetings (shared screens – “Can you hear me?” “My Wi-Fi is erratic.” “My camera isn’t working.”) Recording lessons became second nature, and studying adapted and progressed. Notwithstanding the challenges of bandwidth and device capacity alongside accessibility, progress was being made with regards to the dramatic arts matric theory. However, the dramatic arts practicals were the greater challenge.

Drama means a stage. Acting means live in person. How can practicals be performed online via a screen, big or small? Filming practicals means the subject is now not drama but film study. The IEB (Independent Examinations Board) COVID-19 adjustments start being formulated, and before they knew it, the DraMatriculants were making movies of their performances which now had to be submitted online.

Research on the internet and the following of dramatic arts establishments on the one hand and the experiencing of what industry professionals were doing to try and survive on the other, led to a plethora of strategies. In Cape Town, a film, Lockdown Heights, shot entirely online during lockdown, makes history.

The DraMatrics were now required to perform just two practical pieces, and these both had to be solo pieces because of corona. For the mini-prelims and the prelims, the DraMatrics were fast learning how to film and edit effectively – this app and that programme.

The relief at having filmed their prelim pracs was palpable because there was a sense of achievement and survival. Or so we thought. We embraced no audience, we accepted the acting for camera requirement. What we didn’t expect was the mid-year change to the requirements of the dramatic arts COVID-19 final prac exam. All filming had to be done on campus – all protocols observed, teacher invigilator present.

Then it’s announced that the camera has to be static – no zooming, panning, or editing. A static camera makes it theatrical!

What about the schools’ policies regarding the wearing of masks, or should I say the removal of masks? Is it allowed for a DraMatriculant to film the one piece in The Black Box Theatre and the second piece in The Auditorium or a corridor or on the field? One piece filmed in landscape with the camera a fair distance away from the performance because it’s physical theatre, and the second piece filmed in portrait with a closer, much more intimate placement of camera position?

South African playwright Lara Foot comes to mind because the DraMatrics have studied her plays. She has said that in a South African post-apartheid, postmodern theatrical realm, one must engage with the darkness to see the light. That is what the DraMatrics of 2020 (and their teacher, who is acutely aware that the war isn’t over … spell vaccine) did.

The 2020 DraMatrics excelled. Their theory was strong and their prac even stronger. The vast majority brought home a distinction in this subject. The others were Bs. What a year 2020 was, and what a year (with a second wave subsiding and a third wave predicted) 2021 is proving to be!

At least this time round, we know right from the start what the requirements and challenges are. We have learnt how to teach, direct, and perform dramatic arts in spaces cyber and locations masked; the embrace of “it is what it is” is a survival tactic (like no other, read option).

• Award winning actor, writer, director, teacher, and presenter, Renos Nicos Spanoudes, holds a BA (Ed), BA (Hons) and an MA from the University of the Witwatersrand. He is head of dramatic arts, arts & culture at King David High School Victory Park. He is a also a dramatic arts WitsPlus mentor, and a directing lecturer at the University of Pretoria.