Such Tweet Sorrow Epilogue and Chronicle Pt 1.

While we were in the middle of it it seemed it would never end , but Such Tweet Sorrow did finish 10 days ago. It was more demanding than we could have imagined – in any case, we decided not to blog extensively during the production because we hoped the performance would be judged on its own merits or otherwise.

But now the flowers are beginning to whither on the graves of Juliet, Romeo, Tybalt and Mercutio, I thought I would start posting up excerpts from the rough diary I kept during the 14 months or so between its genesis and its realisation.

From my point of view it is interesting to recall how much of our early thinking survived, but also how we really couldn’t predict the actual nature of the production itself.
Charles Hunter

Diary of a Fearful Passage

9th March 2009
Helping shape a summary of the initial digital proposals we have come up with in a series of Mudlark-RSC workshops aimed at Channel’s 4′s new online investment vehicle, 4iP. This includes an IMDB for theatre, an ARG, a UGC viral web project and “a Twitter Play” an idea of Toby’s that he’s argued hard for – so we’ve tried to develop it into something feasible:
“A drama played out on Twitter. A small company of actors take on roles from a play and act out these roles in Twitter. Using the audience interjections as well as reacting to each other, the audience is a purely virtual one, but is potentially infinite in size. It looks at agency for twitter followers – Looks at creating entertainment for Twitter – adding entertainment to what is currently News, Sport and networking”

6th May 2009
Toby reports back from a long summit meeting involving the RSC, 4iP Screen West Midlands and the Arts Council.
The main idea to gain traction was the bloody Twitter play. Tom Loosemore of 4iP jumped on it and now everyone really, really wants to take it further. Whatever it is , I’ve become the lead producer.

8th May 2009
Talk through this Twitter play idea with Toby – we’ve already been discussing how many of the story-lines in ARGs and other online narrative games are often so weak and Shakespeare’s plotting was one element that attracted us to working with the RSC. But the <140 updates of Twitter?

Later I jot down a list of Twitter USPS and dichotomies -
Twitter is:
1. Now – instant.
2. Short (though it can be endless)
3. Quick (also infinite)
4. Unfurling /rolling
5. Different voices
6. Then – a record.
7. Diary/blog v. Conversation
8. Personal vs Public

The Arts Council, 4iP and SWM are already offering funding/investment but we need to get a one-page proposal together. Five questions emerge after I stare out of the window for a while:
We want to use actors – if we are working with the RSC it just makes sense – but how do you “act” on Twitter? Surely it would have to be improvised…or can we mix scripted tweets in there ?
Do we work out a “real time” narrative – then twitter out of that narrative?
Does it need another reference point – or do we ground the whole thing in Twitter?
An original Shakespeare play or a new play?