Welcome back again.  I have been a bit busy since returning from London with mundane matters (it’s Tax time here in Australia) and it’s also Grant writing submission season.  The former has nothing to do with ‘Mapmaker’s', but the latter is important!  Added to which, I’ve had my head buried in looking at transmedia development models in the creation of new theatre work.  Yes, well, it’s the geek in me, but also something I know quite a lot about ( you can check this out at my personal web site, under the Research tab for those of you with a technical inclination!)

Of the many issues that writers need to give consideration to in developing new theatre work is having an innate understanding of how the work might be presented on stage.  There are costs associated with every element, not the least being the number of cast required and, in the case of a Musical, the number of real musicians (as opposed to computers) required to play the score.  Suffice to say, large casts with large musical forces are now a rarity, if not an extinct species on Broadway and in the West End!  Beyond traditional modes of presentation, there are new emerging ways for new work to be heard, using the increasingly ubiquitous Internet and tools referred to as pervasive computing (including such objects as your iPad2, iPhone, Blackberry, Android etc.).  We are pursuing this with ‘Mapmaker’s’ because it provides us with a way of allowing a global audience to experience the work wherever they live.  Don’t get me wrong, a 1st.-class production is still the major game in town and to which we aspire, but it would be short-sighted to not provide alternative means of dissemination. Continue Reading →