The Space
Supported by The BBC and Arts Council England as founding partners and by the Arts Councils of Wales, Northern Ireland and Creative Scotland, The Space commissions and supports arts organisations and artists to develop work and reach wider audiences using broadcast and online platforms.
Published: 4 April 2017
The new commissions form part of a wider programme of work by The Space which supports artists and arts organisations across the UK to develop their digital capacity and reach wider audiences with their work through online and broadcast distribution.
Emancipation Of Expressionism - Boy Blue Entertainment
Emancipation Of Expressionism reunites Olivier Award-winning company Boy Blue Entertainment, a Barbican Centre Artistic Associate, with Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle. Staged at London’s Barbican Theatre, the film showcases the talents of artistic directors Kenrick 'H20' Sandy, Michael 'Mikey J’ Asante and film director Boyle, who collaborated for the London Olympics Opening Ceremony. This film captures specialist hip-hop and street dance styles for online audiences including schools and students following the selection of Emancipation Of Expressionism as part of the GCSE Dance curriculum.
Rumpelstiltskin - balletLORENT
balletLORENT is a leading contemporary dance theatre company based in Newcastle upon Tyne. The third of their trilogy of adaptations of the classic Brothers Grimm fairytales, Rumpelstiltksin brings together a stellar creative team with performers including local community members. Directed and choreographed by Liv Lorent MBE, written by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, composed by Murray Gold (Musical Director, Doctor Who and five-time BAFTA nominated), designed by Phil Eddolls, costumes by Michelle Clapton (Game Of Thrones), and narrated by Ben Crompton (Game Of Thrones), this co-production by Northern Stage, commissioned by Sadler's Wells is being filmed for wider distribution by The Space.
Key Change - Open Clasp
Key Change is an award winning documentary theatre production from Newcastle’s Open Clasp Theatre. Devised with offenders in the UK women’s prison HMPYOI Low Newton, the piece evokes the texture of daily life in prison, giving voice to those who are rarely heard. The Space has commissioned a live stream and performance capture of this drama described by The New York Times Critics Pick as “a moving, intimate and superbly acted drama about women’s lives in a British prison”.
Open Clasp are a multi award-winning women’s theatre company based in the North East who collaborate with women on the margins of society to create exciting theatre for personal, social and political change.
Stadium - Birmingham Repertory Theatre
In this pioneering world première, fans of Aston Villa and Birmingham City, will unite to share their surprising, funny, heartbreaking stories on stage at Birmingham Repertory Theatre. Acclaimed French director Mohamed El Khatib will explore all aspects of fandom - from friendships formed to partners left behind in a participatory theatre piece for theatre and football fans alike, looking at why the beautiful game is just so beautiful. The live show will be filmed and a series of interviews with fans will be shown online and in football grounds across the region.
The Winter’s Tale - Cheek by Jowl
On 19 April, audiences from across the world will be able to view a live streamed, simultaneously translated, performance of the internationally acclaimed production of The Winter’s Tale by Cheek by Jowl, direct from London’s Barbican Centre. With subtitling in English, Spanish and French, audiences across the UK, Europe, Australia and the USA will join together to enjoy this contemporary interpretation of Shakespeare greatest tragicomedy, and be invited to chat live online with the show’s creative team.
The Winter’s Tale is produced by Cheek by Jowl in a co-production with the Barbican, London; Les Gémeaux/Sceaux/Scène Nationale; Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg; Piccolo Teatro di Milano - Teatro d'Europa; Chicago Shakespeare Theater; Centro Dramático Nacional, Madrid (INAEM).
Messiah - Bristol Old Vic
Developed by Tony Award-winning Artistic Director, Tom Morris OBE and the Music Director of Southbank Sinfonia, Simon Over, Messiah is inspired by Handel's early performances of the work, taking as its starting point the bereaved community of a messianic leader and the struggle towards faith that must have confronted them. The intimate, informal performance will be filmed for online and broadcast distribution, with a different actor performing the role of The Leader (The Messiah) each consecutive evening, inviting audiences to refresh their perception of the character. This contemporary version of Messiah aims to create an intensified and visceral experience for audiences watching both live and online, breaking down barriers between them and the stage. Messiah is a Bristol Old Vic and The English Concert co-production.
Atomos - Studio Wayne McGregor
Multi-award winning choreographer Wayne McGregor CBE has created a unique film version of his stage work Atomos. Following a national and international tour, McGregor has extended and translated the work into a commission for the screen, with an hour-long film released across digital platforms and atomised into short pieces of film that can be experienced over time. Filmed at the BT Sport studios at Here East, ten dancers perform McGregor’s unique style. Bodies, movement, film, sound and light are atomised into miniature shards of intense sensation.
Flood - Slung Low
Flood, by ground breaking Leeds-based theatre company Slung Low, is the story of what happens when the world is destroyed, and how those who survive try to make it new again. An extraordinary year-long epic commissioned for Hull UK City of Culture 2017, the story, in four parts, will be told online, live in Hull and on BBC television. The Space have commissioned Part One: From The Sea, a short film in which the story begins, when a girl is raised from the depths of the ocean. Designed to reach audiences online, From The Sea kicks off a year-long theatrical adventure.
Playcraft - The Playhouse, Derry
Derry Playhouse’s Playcraft is the world’s first play designed, developed and performed in Minecraft. Playcraft will use the creative gaming platform as the stage for an original play from award-winning children’s writer Alex Scarrow, producing and premiering the new work simultaneously on the Minecraft platform and on stage in Northern Ireland.
REACH - Sanctuary Lab, Dumfries and Galloway
Sanctuary is a unique 24-hour public art festival exploring darkness, technology and place in the stunning landscape of the Galloway Forest Dark Skies Park. REACH is an artwork being developed with artist Tim Shaw around an online platform that will gather creative digital contributions from remote audiences. The contributions will be curated in an artwork to be enjoyed under the dark skies of the Galloway Forest as part of the Sanctuary Festival.
REACH is supported by Creative Scotland.
