Rudman Consulting client and AmbITion Scotland participant Stellar Quines theatre company is venturing into the world of live streaming. They are live streaming on Thursday 26 January from the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh. The List by Jennifer Tremblay will be rehearsed during the day by directors Muriel Romanes and Emma Faulkner and actress Maureen Beattie, then given a rehearsed reading in the evening followed by a discussion in Traverse Two. Stellar Quines continue to uphold their aspirations of making the most of digital opportunities for increasing the reach and scale of their work – watch this case study of their experiments so far.

The sections being live streamed are two hours of the rehearsal in the afternoon, 2pm – 4pm, and the evening performance and discussion which will start at 7.30pm and end by 9pm. There will be an attached moderated chat room, linked twitter etc., and you can view it all through the website for Stellar Quines’ next show ANA. Do join them online or in person!

HiBROW.tv has launched, with over 9 hours of High Definition (HD) arts content, filmed by documentary and film maker Don Boyd, curated by culture sector professionals. The website aims to become a social network (using the power of ning) for people who love a quality, high-brow cultural experience – for a certain clientele, the “high art” demographic, a brilliant website that aims to programme 7 hours of fresh content per month from all over the world.

Digital 2012, the national conference for the creative and digital industries in Scotland is about to launch its registrations. Co-produced by Interactive Scotland and Rudman Consulting programme AmbITion Scotland, Hannah Rudman will be opening the conference on 29th March at an evening networking party at the SECC before the conference commences on 30th March, also at SECC.

Nesta Scotland have launched their Digital R&D Fund this week – part of the digital programme of support for Scotland, alongside AmbITion Scotland (and Sync) – if you’re a Scottish arts, cultural, creative, media or digital company, this call for proposals is worth checking out.

“Five Minute Theatre in an Hour!”, is an AmbITion Scotland webinar, that explored the digitisation of live theatre content. Five Minute Theatre was an extraordinary piece of virtual and live theatre – work that my other company Envirodigital created working as producers together with National Theatre Scotland. Watch the case study as told by project creator Marianne Maxwell, National Theatre Scotland; media partner Robert Dawson Scott, STV and The Times theatre critic; and technical consultant/producer Hannah Rudman, Envirodigital, to find more out about this extraordinary virtual and live production.

In total during Five Minute Theatre, a twitter trend was created (#fiveminutetheatre was the top trend in Glasgow on the day) and there were over 6000 hours of theatre viewed online. To put that into context: NTS’s July touring production, Knives in Hens is 1.5 hour viewer hours. 6000 viewer hours online is therefore equivalent to 4000 people watching  a one and a half hr production (that’s equivalent to  around a sold-out 2 1/2 week run at a venue like The Traverse – a midscale scale venue).

The British Council have been hosting their Edinburgh Showcase 2011, which included a digital day, focusing on creating engaging digital content (case studies: Digital Theatre, NT LIve!, Watershed) and engaging audiences digitally (case studies: National Theatre Wales, Sadler’s Wells, Hoipolloi & my very own Envirodigital).

I talked to the international delegates about how to engage audiences internationally, but responsibly (in relation to protecting the environment) Watch the content from the day on demand here!

http://www.fiveminutetheatre.com was a virtual live theatre project powered by webcasting and standard Scottish bandwidth! The National Theatre Scotland celebrated their 5th birthday by showing online 24 hours of live 5 minute pieces of theatre, by anyone, for everyone. My other company Envirodigital have been the technical consultants, and producers. To provide an insight and  case study of how we’ve pulled this event together, NTS have built up a video blog over the weeks.

Also in this blog: an update on the digital developments of Sadler’s Wells, Timespan Museum, Arts and Heritage Centre, and Stellar Quines theatre company.

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Hannah will be speaking at The British Council’s Edinburgh Showcase 2011, on a panel on the use of digital media in the arts. This will be available to a worldwide audience as a webcast – by Envirodigital, of course!

Last Thursday I watched an NTLive! almost-live simulcast at my local Cameo Cinema, of Frankenstein, London’s hottest sold out ticket, directed by Danny Boyle (to see it in London, I’d have to queue for a day ticket -from 1am, when the queue starts forming!).

The production was mesmerising, engaging, gripping and yes, it was live theatre on stage, with its sweat, spits, and occasional trips and stammers, recorded for digital distribution. Except, this time, it wasn’t quite live.

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I’m delighted to announce that my other company#fiveminutetheatre! Envirodigital are consultant producers for Five Minute Theatre.

NATIONAL THEATRE OF SCOTLAND MARKS ITS 5TH BIRTHDAY WITH A VIRTUAL 24 HOUR THEATRE PROJECT

Today, 25th February, 2011, the National Theatre of Scotland marks its fifth birthday by opening public submissions for a nationwide virtual theatre project as well as announcing details of a series of public platforms aimed at provoking and facilitating cultural debate.

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It’s that time of year again for Hannah Rudman to sum up the 2010 digital developments in the cultural sector. Generally, we’ve seen more audience participation online and in venue, and digital access to culture becoming a mainstream activity.

Here’s my pick of the main developments in each art form: for more detail on what individual arts organisations have been up to, especially in Scotland, visit the AmbITion Scotland website for video case studies.

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In a great Edinburgh Fringe Festival experiment on 23.08.10, a compendium of new plays, realised as rehearsed readings, were simultaneously transmitted to UK Picturehouse film theatres, including Edinburgh’s Cameo. Despite over-demand for tickets to the live show at the Traverse, Traverse Live! remained a one-off live performance for a small audience, but the show increased its scale, reach impact and accessibility through simultaneous broadcast.

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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.

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