Fresno City College students stage virtual play about healthcare workers in pandemic

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno City College is finding creative ways for its students to "take the stage".

Fresno City College student William MacDonald says he wasn't sure how he felt about doing a virtual show this semester.

"They were like, 'we're going to do a show next semester,' and I was like 'how?'" said MacDonald, "and they said record yourself doing a monologue and send one in."

These students have worked non-stop to produce a first of its kind show for FCC the past several months.

"The big caveat was it has to be 100% virtual. We can't have students on campus. It has to be recording Zoom from home," said director Karina Balfour.

"The Line" is a documentary-style play that follows seven frontline workers through the height of the pandemic.

"We get more in-depth into their stories of how it affected them personally and patients they work with," said Balfour.

Based on anonymous interviews with New York City health care workers, the performance tackles the emotional and physical challenges faced by these first responders.

"They're actual people. They're not composites of anybody. It's direct quotes from doctors and healthcare workers," added MacDonald.

Students say putting on a virtual performance was no small task.

"The actors had to take on the role of actor, scene designer, lighting designer and cameraman because they had to record from home. They're all recording from their phones," explained Balfour.

Now they're taking their performance to the stage or screen. The show can be streamed online with premiere performances this Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening.

"It's an honor to take that and tell the story," said MacDonald.

Tickets are donation based and can be reserved online. To make a reservation click here.