Blue Apple Theatre has been selected as a finalist at the South Coast Tech Awards 2022 for Digital Transformational Project of the Year hosted by The Business Magazine and sponsored by Spectrum IT Recruitment as a celebration of technological excellence.
The shortlisted companies represent the elite of the South Coast technology sector. Blue Apple has been shortlisted in the category of Digital Transformation of the Year for their innovative use of hybrid live and digital performance techniques in the production of Pinocchia to overcome the barriers to live stage performance during lockdown.
Also shortlisted in this category are Labl.it, Tailor Made Technologies and Utilita Energy.
Looking back at the Pinocchia production, Blue Apple’s Artistic Director Richard Conlon said: “When the pandemic lockdown hit, one person could meet only one person outside so performing arts companies like ourselves at Blue Apple, used to running face-to-face in-person sessions and delivering performances in theatres, had the rug pulled from under us. But we reflected and realised that at heart we are storytellers and just needed to find a way to get the story to the audience in another way. So, we worked with digital geniuses and tech gurus Django Pinter and Samuel Morley who made it possible for us to livestream a performance that was made up of three different performers in three different flats, each in front of a green screen. This was then video-mixed into one image in a digital set and livestreamed out to an audience in December of 2020.”
Richard continued: “That now seems like a long time ago, but it was so professionally and slickly done that I'm sure lots of the audience didn't realise that those three people were miles away from each other and they could only see each other on a screen. The result was a charming heart-warming story about an old man who had been widowed who was sort of brought back to life by a care assist robot, so it was an inversion of the Pinocchio story. This reminded the old man that to be human is to be connected and that maybe he should get out into the world. The audience loved it. There will be ways of getting back to that kind of sense of performance and delivering performance into peoples’ homes through choice if not through necessity this time.”
Blue Apple’s Chair of Trustees will accompany Blue Apple performer James Benfield to the gala evening of celebration at Hilton at the Ageas Bowl on Thursday 23 June 2022, with famous comedian Lucy Porter as MC. They will be joined by another trustee and member of the staff team.
Blue Apple’s Pinocchia is available to watch here:
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