New Company – ideas catalyst

What’s happening

We’re streaming live a new ten minute play, commissioned from Laura Stevens (thin toes, and the little one said) from the Young Vic Clare studio at 1.15pm this Wednesday 29^th June. (giving you time to grab a sandwich). We’d love it if you could watch it at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/makeaplay

Why ‘destroy’?

Well, we suspect there’ll be a whole lot of technical glitches and oddities, so we’d like you to help us iron those out. Then we can start building a better online, live theatre.

So, if the 20 second delay in your comment appearing irritates you tell us. Video quality not good enough for you, tell us. Ads annoying, tell us. Sign up process a little daunting, we’d like to know. Of course, suggestions on how we can improve things would also be helpful.

Why ‘help create’?

Part of the experiment is to involve the audience in helping the writer develop the play. Rather than being holed up in a lonely garret, the writer has a chance to have a conversation with their audience before the final full stop is typed. As audience, people watching can contribute their ideas and experience with the aim of creating a richer,more  collaborative vision.

What’s it going to be like?

Honestly, we’re not sure. We’ve rehearsed the script before and it works really well, but this is the first time we’ve streamed it live over the internet to an invited audience.

There are two things we’re keen to discover:

1. what the experience is like for you (experientially and technically)
2. what you think of the play and how it could develop

How to get involved

Just watch

We’re streaming it live at 1.15pm this Wednesday and you can watch it online at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/makeaplay. You can also view it and take part on Android smartphones, iphones and ipads, but you’ll need to download the (free) ustream app first http://www.ustream.tv/everywhere#mobile. If you’d prefer just to watch, that’s fine.

Comment and shape the play

If you’d also like to take part, sign in using your facebook or twitter account (please don’t use the ustream chat function as it doesn’t merge with the other two streams and we won’t be able to see what you’re saying). Your comments will be fed to us live as the play progresses (although there does appear to be a consistent 20 second delay in our tests).

Once the play is over, we’ll have a short Q&A session with the actors, where you can ask questions and make suggestions. We’ll take your comments and use them in developing the play as well as the overall online theatre.

In 2005 New Company presented ‘Broken Voices’, a series of plays championing democracy. In Belarus that free expression and participation is now savagely under threat. Please see the appeal from Michael Attenborough and David Lan below and join us if you can:

• “It is rare that a theatre company is the spokesperson for a people. The Free Theatre of Belarus are great artists who have bravely taken on one of the rare tasks that theatre gets to take on: to speak up for those who cannot speak, to draw attention to those who need attention drawn to their plight, to shout about the fact that, in Belarus, you can be put in prison for expressing in public an opinion that differs from the dictator.Almost all presidential candidates and their families who dared stand against Lukashenko in last December’s ‘elections’ have been imprisoned or placed under house arrest, and there are allegations of torture.

  As you know, we see you as the future of British theatre. It would be great if you would join Young Vic and Almeida Theatre company members in marching to support the Free Theatre of Belarus and Index on Censorship in their campaign to free all political prisoners.

  We work in a country that allows us to express ourselves. What is happening in Belarus is the equivalent of the coalition government arresting all the staff of the Almeida Theatre, or the staff of the Young Vic and their families having to be on the constant alert in case they are kidnapped.

  The Belarus Free Theatre are part of a community of storytellers linked throughout the world. But they aren’t allowed to tell their story. Please help them to tell it by asking your company members to join the march on Monday 28th March at 5pm, at The HQ of Grayling PR (who are currently attempting to lure investment into Belarus), Portland House, Bressenden Place, London SW1E 5BH. At 5.30pm we will walk to the Houses of Parliament where the Belarus Free Theatre and Jude Law will perform their play ‘Generation Jeans’ in front of MPs and 100 friends to ask the government for their help.

  In New York, The Public Theatre managed to get 30 theatre companies and hundreds of theatre makers to stand up in support of our friends in Belarus. We hope to match that.

  Please RSVP to freebelarusnow@youngvic.org

  Michael Attenborough
  Artistic Director
  Almeida Theatre

  David Lan
  Artistic Director
  Young Vic”