Our Drama Scholars apologise for not apologising in person

Great art is often produced by overcoming great obstacles. And I think you will agree that, at present, we all have one massive obstacle in our midst. The inability to gather in the Wellington Theatre is posing some unfortunate challenges for many of our talented performing arts pupils. But our Drama Scholars in years 7 – 13 are adapting and overcoming with their upcoming live online production of John Donnelly’s play A Series of Public Apologies (In Response to an Unfortunate Incident in the School Lavatories).

Since before Christmas, our Drama Scholars have been working with a professional UK-based theatre company called Two Lines Productions. In one session, the pupils were prompted for a discussion about current social issues that matter to them. The conversation eventually led to Donnelly’s play. It is a biting piece of satire about public image and how so much of it is tangled up in our fear of saying the wrong thing.

The premise is simple: A school leadership team calls a public meeting to address an inappropriate message that was scrawled on the walls of a lavatory. Their initial, totally ham-fisted statement about the incident sets in motion a chain reaction of apologies about not apologising, apologising about the wrong thing, inadvertently offending certain parties, inadvertently excluding others. The cast contort themselves into increasingly absurd rhetorical postures until the process reaches its logically ridiculous conclusion. Surely, anybody who follows elected officials, celebrities and other public figures in the media is familiar with such a phenomenon.  

The beauty of this play is its flexibility. It can be done in person onstage, of course. But nowadays, a public meeting can just as plausibly take place online. And this was the format our drama scholars ultimately decided to use for our production. Ironically, we decided on this medium long before the current distance learning and lockdown mandates were in place. So, one could even say that our drama scholars were ahead of the curve!

Admittedly, the online medium has plenty of limitations. But these limitations are what make this production so exciting. Our drama scholars have been hard at work in rehearsals, exploring new ways to connect with their audience, trying to make themselves larger than a tiny square in a grid on a screen. They are realising that an online production like this can be much more interactive and intimate. In fact, we are encouraging our audience members to keep their device cameras on for exactly this reason.

Another thing that makes this production so exciting is its potential reach. By going online, we are expanding our audience not just to the homes of our fellow Wellington Community members, but also to our friends and loved ones abroad — many of whom we have not seen in quite a while. Moreover, I do not see this production simply as a way of adapting to a temporary inconvenience. Rather, it is a pilot. There are endless possibilities. We can collaborate in productions with our fellow Wellingtonians in Tianjin, Hangzhou, Bangkok and even England for some truly innovative and fun productions.

So, do join us on Friday 15 April at 5:00pm (CST) for what I promise will be a one-of-a-kind performance.

To watch Wellington’s first-ever live online drama production, please view flyer and scan the QR code to receive your tickets today!