Real Fresh TV Helps Contact Theatre to UK Social Media ‘First’
Manchester based social media training and implementation consultancy Real Fresh TV has helped Contact Manchester to a UK ‘first’.
Contact Manchester is the first UK theatre to successfully combine activity on Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and their own social network to deliver an international theatre exchange festival.
Real Fresh TV provided website design and development and social media strategy, training and implementation support on Contacting the World, Contact Manchester’s pioneering international theatre exchange project for young people.
After its success as part of Liverpool’s City of Culture in 2008, Contacting the World returned home to Manchester in 2010. Read our review of the February launch.
The biennial festival brings together young performers in traditional theatre, dance, spoken word and hip hop all aged 16-25.
The participants, representing 15 different theatre companies from 11 countries around the world are twinned together in the spirit of cultural exchange to create brand new performances inspired by each other during the six month project.
Two great examples of the exciting new work created through Contacting the World are A Neon Fairytale by The Outhouse Collective from London and Arok Dedes, devised and performed by CuciOtak from Pasuran, Indonesia. Read on for a review of both plays.
This year’s country twins are:
- Manchester, UK and Mumbai, India
- London, UK and Pasuruan, Indonesia
- Basel, Switzerland and Madison, USA
- Liverpool, UK and Tehran, Iran
- Amsterdam, The Netherlands and Johannesburg, South Africa
- Kingston, Jamaica and Copenhagen, Denmark
The twinned companies have participated in one physical exchange visit in which performers swap country for a number of days whilst working together to create a theatre production.
The majority of the project has been developed through online collaboration on the Contacting the World online community where participants use social media tools like YouTube, Twitter and Flickr to communicate and develop ground breaking performances.
The week-long Contacting the World 2010 festival is currently underway at Contact Theatre, Manchester and runs till Monday 26 July.
Here’s a short preview video of the festival:
Alongside evening double-bill performances by the ‘country twins’, there will be workshops, matinees from past companies, street performance and discussions. Some performances are being livestreamed.
Get up to the minute details of performances by following Contacting the World on Twitter (@ContactTheWorld). The Twitter hashtag for the project is #ctw2010.
Find out more about the participants by visiting the online community
Related posts:
- Social Media meets Youth Theatre at Contact Manchester’s Contacting the World 2010
- Shouldn’t Social Media Training Be Included With Web Design Services?
- Real Fresh TV’s Monthly Social Media Events Guide – September
- Real Fresh TV Partners with PUMA On A Social Media Search To Find Manchester’s Most Promising Band
