A total of 8,804 people in 76 countries around the world* watched the live-stream of National Theatre Wales’ The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning, according to statistics revealed today.
All public performances of the production were live-streamed on a dedicated website - nationaltheatrewales.org/bradleymanning – allowing online audiences to browse through material on the real story of Bradley Manning whilst watching the dramatisation. Alongside this live stream, the site hosted hyperlinks to websites, videos and articles referred to in the script, and a live comment stream to which the online audience contributed. The site was free to view and was only available live alongside the stage performance.
National Theatre Wales calls this ‘hyper-connected theatre’ - a combination of a live online transmission of the performance, hyperlinks to background information, and an opportunity for the audience to interact through livechat.
Written by Tim Price, and directed by the company’s artistic director, John E McGrath, The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning tackled one of the most important political and digital stories of our age, and brought that story to both local and global audiences.
This production marries National Theatre Wales’ reputation for making pioneering multiplatform work with the extraordinary story of Bradley Manning, who spent much of his adolescence in Haverfordwest, west Wales. The production opened at Tasker Milward School, which Bradley attended in his teens.
Reviewing the hyper-connected theatre experience, The Arts Desk said: "[Tim] Price and NTW have not only placed themselves at the cutting-edge of theatre, but at the very coalface of ideas". News stories about the production were published around the world, and appeared on CBS News, in the Washington Post, the Huffington Post, and the New Statesman.
Announcing the statistics, John E McGrath said: “'Every since becoming the first national theatre to launch itself with an online community, and a live-cast announcement of our opening season, National Theatre Wales has placed its digital presence at the heart of its theatre making. We have been thinking for a while about how best to incorporate live online viewing into our work, and Bradley Manning's story - with its huge news presence and direct relationship to digital information - was the perfect place to start. We are delighted to have reached such a wide global audience through this experiment, and we are looking forward to developing our live web presence.'
Multiplatform designer Tom Beardshaw, of Native HQ, added: “We continue to experiment and develop our understanding of how social media can connect with live performance through our collaborations with National Theatre Wales, and I think it has been very important to everyone involved in the production that we have been able to reach a wider international audience with our telling of Bradley Manning's story.”
A documentary on the making of The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning, with behind-the scenes footage and exclusive interviews with the director and writer, entitled Sky Arts at National Theatre Wales, will be broadcast on Sky Arts 1 on Monday 7th May 2012, 7pm-7.30pm.
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