Medway Megaliths Episode 1 premiers online as part of Bounceback Festival

Watch Episode One - Nature of Medway Megaliths, our new 5-part sci-fi drama this weekend, premiering online as part of Gulbenkian Theatre's BounceBack Festival, from 6.30pm Friday 25 June until Sunday 27 June 2021. With the other episodes being released over the summer on Theatre31’s Digital Stage. It is a SparkedEcho project commissioned by Theatre31. This is an exciting partnership between the two organisations!

The story focuses on the Medway Megaliths, a series of ancient stone monuments located in the lower valley of the Medway River. They are shrouded in mystery and folklore, no one really knows what they are for or who put them there. That is, until now…Episode one takes us on an exciting mystery - The animals are alerted to disappearing stones at The Coldrum. What will they find when they get there?

The production has been created remotely, with young artists across Medway and Sheppey, aged 14-18 who participated in workshops to curate the production, with our creative team of artists. Livi Wilmore, an AR Artist and Animator, who uses digital animation to satirise and highlight the absurdities of day to day life, and creates AR experiences to enhance new and old stories in an exciting, interactive way. Sarah Booth, a Medway based freelance set and costume designer, working across Theatre, Opera and live events. Debbie Sowter, an experienced music specialist and inclusive arts practitioner, working with adults and children, who recognises the immense value of music as a tool to aid our overall health and wellbeing. As a result of the project, young people were able to develop their skills in writing, acting, music-making, AR filters, designing virtual sets and costumes, and had lots of fun along the way! 

We've also had the chance to work with the Performing Arts students at MidKent College, who helped to write the script, act out the scenes and record audio for voice overs. This was a great opportunity for them to experience Theatre in a ‘digital’ way, and make use of the technology available to them such as green screens, AR filters, and experimenting with camera angles with editing in mind. This helped to aid their creative vision, and push the boundaries of live/recorded performance and theatre. 

Theatre31 - ​Theatre for young people, by young people.
Theatre31 is an exciting new programme, inspiring young people to be involved in theatre and putting them directly in the driving seat. Taking place across Medway and Sheppey, this youth-led programme supports young people to make decisions and call the shots on everything that happens – from deciding which artists to work with to designing the logo.

​Theatre31 is an arts programme with no walls, which means all activities can be flexibly and quickly adapted to enable safe and creative delivery in a Covid world.
All the activities are free to access and there are many opportunities for young people to get involved!

BounceBack Festival celebrates the creativity young people have expressed over the past year, through lockdown and release.