The show must go on.
The Newcastle organisers of Australia's annual Junior Theatre Festival put the old adage to the test on Saturday when they staged a virtual event for 450 young performers in NSW, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia.
Fifteen groups competed online for a judging panel "beamed in" from overseas.
"We're so glad we didn't have COVID 15 years ago because the quality of the technology's amazing," co-producer Shane Bransdon said.
"We were tuning into adjudicators who were in New York, Maine, San Francisco, New Zealand and there was no delay.
"Every image came up so clear. I think they ended up having 17 laptops connected into their system."
Fellow producer Daniel Stoddart, founder of Hunter Drama, said the "easy option" would have been to cancel the festival, but "now more than ever these young people need to be able to express their creativity and feel connected".
Two theatre groups in South Australia, Adelaide Youth Theatre and Pelican Productions, were declared the winners of the Newcastle council-sponsored event, which is in its sixth year.
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