Technically Speaking
BY KIM KOSMATKA

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted Marshall’s “normal” during the 2020-2021 school year, and that was especially true and disappointing for participants in the Marshall School drama program. After a fall without a play, and a winter without the one-act competition, students were ready for a spring show. COVID protocols meant on-stage, live performances for an audience were out of the question. 

Drama Director Jonathan Manchester teamed up with Wherehouse Productions and Greysolon by Blackwoods to give students a unique theater experience. Thomas Lane ’22 and Joe Perry-Spears ’22 have worked behind the scenes for Marshall’s stage productions since they were in 8th and 9th grades, respectively. As juniors last year, the two found themselves immersed in something they had never done before.

Not only did the students record The Importance of Being Earnest for a film audience, they did so outside of their comfortable school environment. Rather than use Marshall’s Fregeau Auditorium for the set, students performed and filmed in two downtown Duluth locations. “We shot two of the three acts at Greysolon, and the other one we filmed at Zeitgeist. That’s the one that was green-screened,” said Lane. “Greysolon was really nice to film in, but the ballroom was really echoey, and that’s why we decided to do voice overs.”

Lane said he has always had an interest in film, so being involved with this production was a good challenge for him. “We had to film the entire thing. It was very difficult to do this, especially as only one actor could have their mask off at a time,” he said. “We were constantly trying to dodge the masks and get camera shots that didn’t include them in the background.”

“We were able to get past the masks through shooting and editing tricks,” added Perry-Spears. “Editing took me 12-13 hours total using Premiere Pro [video editing software]. We put together a full-length film in a few weeks, and that was outstanding!”

Both students agree the collaboration to pull off the spring performance was really special. “There were a lot of difficulties and it would’ve been really easy to stop or do things in a different way that might have made things easier but made the show not as enjoyable.” said Lane. “However, everybody really wanted it to be the best that it could be, so we got it done.”

The Importance of Being Earnest premiered on Marshall’s Fregeau Auditorium screen May 21, 2021, and also played on the school YouTube channel for a short run.