Black Country Touring, Kali Theatre Company and Birmingham Rep Theatre are using webcasting to realise their latest play – set in homes across the Black Country! Behna is a play based in a Punjabi household set the day before a family wedding. As the guests are busy eating, singing and dancing, tension is brewing in the kitchen. Truths are told and secrets unfold between two generations of sisters. Fast-paced, funny and moving, Behna looks through the keyhole of a family home to reveal secrets and lies.
Six homes are hosting the play across the Black Country for their own private guests: of friends, family, neighbours and colleagues. Audiences will cram into the kitchens and hallways of the homes. A great blog reveals the rehearsal process – for the actors and those who have offered their homes up as sets.
A live webcast will be broadcast from a kitchen in Wolverhampton at 7pm on Saturday 20 March 2010. But its being made even more participative than just the different viewing opportunity offered by webcasting – you can watch it in your own kitchen, do henna tattooing and munch Asian delights with friends and family – get party ideas from a downloadable party pack.
I think this is a great way of increasing the scale of this event, which would otherwise be restricted to the amount of audience you could fit into six homes! Its also a really interesting way of achieving greater access and reach with the show: as the research around the impact of NTLive! has proven – there is new audience out there for new forms of artistic work that blend digital and traditional methods of production. And this method improves reach with very little carbon impact!
If you’re interested in using webcasting in your work creatively, then do get in touch with me at Envirodigital.