For those looking for Holiday entertainment that’s COVID-19 friendly, the Hastings Community Theatre is offering a Zoom production of a Christmas classic, done in the style of an old-timey radio play.
Ruth Neilson directed the theatre’s 2020 production of A Christmas Carol, performed entirely over Zoom, and says the production was born out of desperation after the theater was shuttered due to the pandemic.
“The chair for our play committee, Partick Crawford, had been trying to find things that could be done via video or something like that,” Neilson said. “He found a radio play for A Christmas Carol, and I really like the Christmas Carol, so I jumped on it and said, ‘hey, I’ll give that try.’”
She says, in the interest of keeping everyone healthy, the entire production was cast, rehearsed and shot without actors or staff ever meeting in person. Suffice to say, the alterations brought unique challenges.
“We figured out a lot of the ins and outs of Zoom,” said Neilson. “I think our hardest part what the different technologies from home to home because all of our actors, except for one, performed from home.”
A Christmas Carol is available online now until midnight on Christmas day.
For more information on how to acquire a ticket, click here.