by Jack Gelber
New School for Drama | Bank Street Theatre & Twitch.tv

This production was performed and streamed live across the ‘Twitch TV’ streaming platform. It used three stationary camera and one hand held camera. The aim of the production was to create the stakes and intensity that you get from a live theatre performance at a time when live audience theatre was closed. The audience tuned in from across the globe and was able to live comment as it was playing out. A recording of the performance was then made available to stream for two weeks.

The play itself has a play-within-a-play format, with characters Jim Dunn as the “producer” and Jaybird as the “writer” attempting to stage a production about the underbelly of society using “real” addicts. Some of the addicts are jazz musicians. They all (except for the “producer”, “writer”, and two “photographers”) have one thing in common: they are waiting for their drug dealer, their “connection”. The dialogue of the characters is interspersed with jazz music. The production used live performers playing jazz and providing all the sound for the production.

Stream live on Twitch.tv