Uncharted territory; An NIC student brings his vision to life on stage despite COVID-19 challenges

This year has challenged many different aspects of normal life here at North Idaho College, and the theater department is no exception.

When the challenge of making a fall production arose, theater director Joe Jacoby developed a plan to continue the tradition. He and others involved in the theater department came up with different ways to provide a show to an audience.

Jacoby said obtaining the rights to perform a full-length play,
as well as the streaming rights to Zoom or record the production
could prove challenging. However, another option proved much easier
to work around.

Playwright and actor Ty Harrington (left) holds the clicker while he and Brandon Miller (right), cast as Tools McKenzie, wait for the “action” call between takes. Photo by Jaye Hanselman-Cox.

NIC student and theater major Ty Harrington got the opportunity to contribute to the department in a way not often granted to students. Harrington first came up with the idea for “Time Cop: A Rock and Roll Odyssey” when he was a junior in high school.     

The play follows the main character Time Cop and her band of friends as they travel back in time and fight the villain Tools McKenzie and his gang of villains who are on a mission to change time. 

The play consists of 11 characters, as well as more than 10 crew members who help with costumes, set design, lighting and all of the aspects that go into a production.        

“Ty’s been really great about sharing ideas and he’s allowed everybody to contribute their own ideas,” Jacoby said.

All of the creative decision-making for the play involved Harrington and he even had to step in as one of the characters during filming due to the original actor testing positive for COVID-19.

“It’s been fun to see the connections that the actors made that I didn’t even make and to see the different directions they took things that I didn’t exactly expect,” Harrington said.

The process of bringing the story to life functioned similarly to a movie production. The cast and crew filmed all the scenes for each location then tore the set down and moved onto the next. The cast set up four Go-Pros to film different angles for scenes.

“Normally in a play, you just have one set that stays on stage and if there’s other locations you move props in and out, but we actually had a set designer design five different sets for us,” Harrington said.
       

While pre-recorded music is traditionally used, the heavy rock music in the play was created internally by NIC Automotive Technology Associate Professor Mark Magill. Music and sound effects were added after filming was completed.
       

Actors wore mics while filming and audio was edited in
post-production.
     

 “We are in totally new territory,” Jacoby said.

The plan for next semester was “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare, but that is now up in the air. Exploring new options for how to continue giving students opportunities for involvement in theater brought about the idea of allowing students to direct multiple one-act plays over Zoom.

“If that’s a challenge they would enjoy, that’s what I’m going to do,” Jacoby said.

Shooting for “Time Cop: A Rock and Roll Space Odyssey” concluded Nov. 3 and can be viewed on Youtube. 

For more information on the NIC theater department, visit the theater section of nic.edu.