Those who tuned in to a dedicated channel on Google Hangouts at 6 p.m. on June 9, 16 and 23 witnessed a novelty. It was in the form of an initiative by the British Council in conjunction with the London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT), which brought together Nigerian, Spanish and British thespians in an online real time play.
Toyin Oshinaike
Fred Enwonwu, a representative of the British Council in Nigeria, told TheNiche that the project is in furtherance of the theatre in unconventional spaces theme they have been exploring in Nigeria.
“This includes using the digital landscape as a platform to deliver performances,” he stated.
Titled Longitude, it is a multi-platform theatre experience running across three episodic performances on Google Hangouts to connect performers in Barcelona, Lagos and London.
Set in a near future when water has become a scarce resource, Longitude tells the story of five characters trying to smuggle and sell water to Nigeria, and make a killing out of climate change.
The show features creative teams based in Lagos, Barcelona and London who are linked via Google Hangout. Established theatre practitioners, Toyin Oshinaike and Ifeoma Fafunwa, make up the Lagos creative team.
A web page was created beforehand to host the show and theatre lovers were encouraged to follow the link and become part of this ground-breaking performance.