St. Augustine School Represents US at Intl. Theater Gathering

On May 29, 2020, Layna Tarbotton, a Drama student from St. Augustine of Canterbury Roman Catholic School in Kendall Park, NJ and Timothy Horan, a St. Augustine School Alumni Drama student, represented the United States at the Worldwide Virtual Gathering held by Company Three, an organization supporting theater troupes around the world in creating Corona Time Capsules which allow students to express themselves during Covid-19. The two U.S. students and their Drama Director, joined students and Drama teachers from 29 theater troupes from around the world that are currently working on Corona Time Capsules.

Company Three set up this project for teens to tell their stories. The gathering included troupes from the Netherlands, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, U.K., Croatia, many other countries, and one theater troupe from the U.S., the St. Augustine Players from Kendall Park, NJ. To date, there are 130 troupes from around the world working week by week on their Time Capsule videos, with 60 troupes soon set to begin their first week. Each week, Company Three provides the weekly Topic, instructions, suggestions, and resources to help students create their 15 sec. videos that are then edited together by their Director and added to the previous weeks' videos. The project began 10 weeks ago and has funding for 7 more weeks. Having begun on different dates, the Troupes vary on which weekly topic they are filming. The St. Augustine troupe and Alumni have finished videos for week #3, completing the topics of Beginning, Home Life, and About Us. The upcoming weeks' topics include school, social distancing, letting loose, food, who we live with, when this is over, and characters in lockdown. The remaining topics will be revealed in the weeks to come.

A few days before the Gathering, Company Three was contacted by the United Nations, applauding Company Three's efforts that have given voice to thousands of teens around the world. The UN Representative, who campaigns for Children's Rights, expressed the UN's gratitude and considers the Time Capsule project as an important way for teens to express themselves during Covid-19. Although many theater troupes post their video on YouTube and Instagram, the St. Augustine Player's video will be held in the Time Capsule until the troupe's 10th Anniversary. Tarbotton and Horan represented their school, their state, and their country well in the World Gathering, where students discussed with other students around the world important questions about Covid-19 including: What they miss, what they like, how the new world should be different, and the biggest question of all: When this is over...

This year marks the 5th Anniversary of the St. Augustine Players, designated by its members as the Alumni Year, in which students from all previous musicals are invited back to participate in Drama activities throughout the year, including the Talent Show, an Afternoon of Musical Show Tunes, the Musical in which alumni are invited to have a cameo, and an Alumni Fashion Show at the annual Drama Awards Dinner. Both current troupe members and Alumni players are contributing to the Time Capsule that will be shown in 5 years at the next Alumni Year Drama Dinner, the troupe's 10th Anniversary.