Despite Covid regulations, students at Oak Hill Academy were still able to experience some Christmas magic today whilst watching a virtual pantomime of The Wizard of Oz.
For many years, Christmas pantomimes have been an annual tradition at Oak Hill.
This year, though, the traditional interactive pantomime that we all know and love was unable to take place due to government restrictions.
However, theatre company M&M Theatrical Productions found a way to ensure that schools still feel the magic of theatre this Christmas.
In a fully immersive and interactive experience, pupils at Oak Hill Academy took part in a virtual viewing of The Wizard of Oz.
The pantomime was an hour-long pre-recorded production of the popular children’s film.
To add to the magic, M&M Theatrical Productions ensured there was a surprise for the children too – a real-life actor who ‘popped out’ of the screen to join them!
The Wizard of Oz comes to life at Oak Hill Academy.
Rachael Saim, Principal, recognised the importance of keeping the annual tradition alive and lifting spirits ahead of Christmas: “A lot of children don’t usually get the opportunity to visit their local theatre and watch a pantomime as they can be quite expensive.
“As a school, it’s important to us to bring that opportunity here to our students each year, especially this year.
“The children have responded amazingly to all of the changes we’ve had to implement due to Covid restrictions and have been really co-operative throughout.
“So, being able to go ahead with our annual pantomime this year was a nice treat for them.
“Even though the event didn’t run in its traditional fashion, showing the performance virtually instead meant that the children were able to get excited and have a bit of fun before the Christmas break.
“It was really great to see the excitement on their faces, especially when the actor popped in and out of the screen!”
M&M Theatrical Productions hosted four showings of The Wizard of Oz to Oak Hill Academy, one for each year group.
The year groups watched their showing in the school hall at separate times to adhere to social distancing bubbles.
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