SAN ANTONIO – There may not be a live audience at Holmes NSITE Theatre Art’s annual Christmas play this year due to the pandemic; however, now anyone in the world can watch it.
“I wanted to make sure that this was something special for them and something that they could show to their friends and family, even family out of town this time,” Anne Bridges said. Bridges is the theatre director at the high school.
Original play writing has been part of the curriculum at the NISD high school for almost a decade.
“We started at the very beginning of the year in August, trying to figure out a way that we could still do the Christmas show, but do it in a way that kept everyone safe,” Bridges said. “(This year’s) play is called ‘Fixing Christmas.’”
The story centers around a group of North Pole characters brainstorming how Santa will stay safe and travel during the pandemic to spread Christmas cheer.
“(They use) a special app called Jingle that they develop themselves,” Bridges said.
Numerous hours of preparation including writing, costumes, rehearsals, recording and editing went into uploading the 26-minute play on YouTube.
“The class itself has 23 students in it, so some that don’t even appear on screen still contributed to it,” Bridges said.
Bridges and her students hope viewers enjoy their work and are encouraged during the holiday season.
“I think the key word is ‘hope,’ and there’s a line from ‘A Christmas Carol’ that we actually use at the end of the show,” Bridges said. “The line talks about the world being weary and all of a sudden at Christmas time, there’s this thrill of hope. I think if you watch the news right now, we’re starting to have light at the end of the tunnel. We’re starting to see this (pandemic) isn’t going to be forever.”
To watch Fixing Christmas, click here.
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