Ask Any Girl!
If all were right and normal in our world, this week would have seen the cast of the 2020 production, Ask Any Girl, take to the stage. They would have stepped back in time to 1959 in New York City and brought to life the world of Meg Wheeler and her friends as they search for love. However, all is not right and normal, and as with many events and activities at school the production was unfortunately cancelled.
When we made the decision to cancel the production in order to keep our students safe, the strict social distancing measures we are now faced with, were not in place. We made the call before restaurants were closed, before football games were cancelled and before we were all being encouraged to work from home.
Not knowing what was around the corner, it was a risk to cancel something the cast and crew had put so much time and effort into, however in hindsight, we would have had no other option, and we did so at the right time.
The cast and crew were still able to come together to farewell our show, giving the students an opportunity to create a video to parody the situation we now found ourselves in. Whilst there is an overwhelming sense of loss and disappointment, we were fortunate to give our students a sense of closure through this process.
It was not just the cast who put an enormous amount of time and energy into the production. Thanks must go to Costume Designer Miss Molly, Set Designer Stacy Gardoll and Production Manager Andrew Portwine and of course our Stage Managers Nicki Xanthis and Emma Robinson, two SMC Old Girls (2019), who had returned so they could once again experience the joy of making theatre.
Sophie Kelly, Performing Arts Captain, also reflected upon her experience in these crazy times:
“As always, taking part in production has been an amazing experience. All of the cast and crew have made friendships and memories that will stay with us for a long time. Even though we were obviously all very disappointed to hear we would have to cancel the show, we wanted to make light of the hard and troubling situation we are in and bring a smile to people’s faces through our work.
The show was so important to all of us, the story resonated with us, we fell in love with the journey and made personal connections with the characters we were playing. To have this taken away from us was hard, but together with the support of Ms Hux and our fellow cast members, we were able to be as positive as we could be and were inspired to make new art out of the situation.
Thank you to Mrs Oaten, parents and families, the Dance and Drama Department and most of all to the cast and crew of Ask Any Girl.
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- Collaboration, ConnectingLearning2Life, Creativity, Featured, Resilience
Author: Santa Maria College
Santa Maria College is a vibrant girls school with a growing local presence and reputation. Our Mission is to educate young Mercy women who act with courage and compassion to enrich our world. Santa Maria College is located in Attadale in Western Australia, 16 km from the Perth CBD. We offer a Catholic education for girls in Years 5 – 12 and have 1300 students, including 152 boarders.
