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Grove School in Madison Brings the Bard with ‘Social Distanced Shakespeare’

As schools struggle with the nearly infinite complexities of reopening during the pandemic, with constantly shifting guidelines and priorities handed down from the state, The Grove School theater department has established what it hopes might be an example and inspiration for other schools and theater programs, adapting traditional shows in very non-traditional times.

Social-distanced Shakespeare kicks off this week with a production of The Tempest, which staff and students have managed to bend to the strictures of the pandemic while still creating the kind of traditional theater experience that young actors and artists have missed out on since March, according to Grove School Theater Arts Director Emily Webster.

“It’s just so great that the kids have had an opportunity to do live theater when live theater is just not happening right now,” Webster said.

A therapeutic day and boarding school serving around 150 students in grades 7 to 12, The Grove School returned to in-person activities early in July, and Webster said she almost immediately began searching for a way to allow something resembling a traditional play under all the new restrictions.

Almost entirely blazing a new trail, with most schools not yet having opened and summer theater programs or camps mostly staying low-key, Webster said she sees the social-distanced play as potentially offering a path that other schools and programs can emulate in the fall.

With everyone wearing masks and the entire play arranged to keep cast and crew six feet apart at all times, reimagining setpieces, and limiting the in-person audience to 25, Webster said that she and her troupe have created a pandemic-safe experience that still gives students the opportunity to collaborate, delve into emotion, and challenges themselves in the way that only live theater can allow.

“At Grove, we understand the social-emotional benefits of being together. It does not have to go back to the way it was—we can be innovative and move forward,” Webster said. “We have found that working through a camaraderie...that having something to work toward together has really helped everybody...have a sense of purpose, and not wallow.”

Though it was a challenge especially in the relatively short amount of time available, Webster said modifying The Tempest became an exciting creative endeavor, with stools of different heights marking space, and masks incorporated into costumes, according to Webster.

Dealing with both financial and health concerns, nearly every school district is having to make difficult decisions about how, or even whether they can field a theater program this coming school year. Webster said she hopes Grove can both show that this is possible, as well as advocate for the important skills learned through these programs in the age of the pandemic.

“Even little things like using body language—when you can’t see someone’s face, how do you read their facial expressions?” Webster said. “We’re learning all these skills in our play that we’re using in our lives. So it’s been really powerful.”

Due to privacy policies, live-streams and videos of the play will not be made available to the general public, according to Webster, though parents and other students will have a chance to view the play either in person or through a recording or live-stream.

The 13 total students have been “very creative, very ambitious” in their endeavor, Webster said, and though many other traditional plays that require large ensembles or direct contact between actors were ruled out, she and her program are working on ideas that could function going forward, including original productions that could directly address themes and realities of the world.

“Let’s hold up a mirror, let’s talk about what it’s like to have to wear masks and be socially distant—what does that do to our relationships, what does that do to our infrastructure?” Webster said. “And so I’m really hoping that theater...can figure out a way to tell new stories.”

Social distancing, mask-wearing, and smaller groups could be built into these new plays, Webster said, while also fitting thematically into the production.

While nothing has been approved and Grove is still taking theater “one step at a time,” Webster said “that is the direction we want to go” as far as the program, and she has already spoken to her students and other faculty about what some of these things might look like.

“We are really proud of the fact that we’re doing this, and we’re hoping to sort of role model that theater can take place in these restricted times,” Webster said.