By Gabriella Payne
Anyone who’s ever performed on stage before will tell you that there’s nothing quite like the feeling of the curtains going up on the very first night – but for the team behind Nossal High School’s ’Addam’s Family’ production, the first time was also sadly the last.
Months of preparations and many rehearsals had both the staff and students excited to pull off a string of shows, but when news of the impending lockdown loomed, they realised that there might be a last minute change of plans.
Shane Woon, a theatre teacher at Nossal and the show’s producer said that it had been a bit of an “emotional rollercoaster“ for everyone involved, as the last lockdown (no.4) had also derailed their production schedule.
Mr Woon said that with remote learning being on again and then off again, the student cast had really pulled together in the past few months in preparation for their shows, but when the news broke that Victoria would be plunged back into lockdown on Friday 16 July, they knew they would have to make their one performance one to remember.
“We had to gather the students at period five [on Thursday] to let them know that this would be our one and only performance and act as both the opening and closing night, which was a real shame because they worked so hard to get it together,“ Mr Woon said.
“But at the same time, it was better to get one show up rather than no show – especially compared to what happened to the arts last year.“
Mr Woon said that despite the adversities they faced and the threat of the impending lockdown, every one came together and performed their hearts out on stage, and the show was a triumph in the end.
“They did a phenomenal job,“ he said.
“I’m very proud of them, but also very sad that we won’t be able to do a few more shows [once we return to campus].“
“We all just hustled during period five to make sure we were good to go – even the year 12’s, they were probably more devastated than the junior kids but they took on a leadership role and were incredibly resilient, I was very impressed with them,“ he said.
“They responded in the face of adversity and said, we can get this done, so let’s get this done, and the fact that they were willing to push on is a testament to them.“
Many people helped to make the first and last performance of the Addam’s Family the success that it was but Mr Woon wanted to make a special shout out to two incredible teachers, Jane Denman and Michelle Desaulniers, for going above and beyond in making this possible.
Despite the limited capacity numbers at the show, the theatre was still filled with many keen supporters and eager parents, and it truly was a night no one will be forgetting any time soon.
