School and extracurriculars might look a little different this year, but the show must go on! GA’s Belfry Club cast and crew did not let the pandemic stop them from performing. Despite not being allowed to physically get together and rehearse in school, Belfry members created a 50 minute long digital performance called “The Internet is Distract — OH Look a Kitten!” The play revolves around a student named Micah who is trying to quickly fact-check her paper before school. Unfortunately, the internet is not as helpful as she thought it would be, and Micah soon finds herself watching weird Youtube videos while getting hacked by a Russian spy. The internet messes with her paper, and eventually starts messing with her mind!
This play was chosen because of its relevance to this year and having to spend half of our days on the computer. According to Will Cooper ‘22, it represents how “reliant on technology everybody is today.” Cooper plays Taylor, a friend of Micah’s, and says the script is “very relatable” and “aware of how social media really is.” Annabel Hellman ‘22, who plays the Russian hacker, says the play was “easy to incorporate into an online setting, whereas a traditional play would have been hard to do.”
The production process took a lot of work. K, head of the Belfry Club, put a lot of effort into making sure the cast had everything they needed to produce high-quality videos. Cooper explained how K provided tripods and ring lights, and helped the cast navigate connecting their phones through Zoom. According to Cooper, the hardest part of producing the play was “figuring out the technical aspects and how to do everything online.” If scenes were filmed over a few days, the setup had to be exactly the same each day, meaning cast members had to set up their phones in the same angle and construct the same light throughout the room in each shot. Cooper explained how “normally you don’t have to worry about stuff like that because sound and tech people do all of it,” but it was a “new and interesting experience to do it by ourselves.” Both Hellman and Cooper were pleasantly surprised when watching the play online for the first time, pointing out how the scenes were put together really well. Cooper claimed that he “had seen unedited clips, and, well, the difference between what we submitted and what I saw was really good.” He mentioned that he was “really impressed with the quality and how well all the technical stuff worked.”
I couldn’t agree more. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I clicked on the link; I’ve been to a few Belfry shows, but certainly never a virtual one. I thought the transitions between scenes were smooth and the cast did a good job of expressing their energy through the screen. I never lost interest and there was even an unexpected twist at the end. The play is available to watch online until 1/28, and I can’t wait for the next one! I will definitely be watching, and I think you should too.