Gibraltar Plays Reach UK Podcast Top Ten
A podcast featuring two short plays by Gibraltarian playwright Julian Felice has reached the Top Ten of the UK iTunes Podcast Chart. Ten Minutes and A Porn In Her Game were released last week as part of The Pod Play, a collection of podcast plays that currently sits at Number 9 on the list, its highest position so far. The plays were recorded by Manchester-based MancMade Productions, who also produced a podcast version of Julian’s play I Ate All The Bourbon Creams last year.
Ten Minutes is one of Julian’s most successful plays, having been performed on stage at the King’s Head Theatre and at Theatro Technis, both in London. An absurdist tragicomedy, it tells the story of two characters in a ten-minute play trying to make the most out of their short time on stage. A Porn In Her Game – a comedy about a wife who reveals a shocking secret to her husband when he is sent a pornographic video – was last year long-listed for Flux Theatre’s Emerge 5 event and was later given an online reading by Scriptwriters & Co.
Producing plays as podcasts is yet another example of how the theatre industry has had to re-invent itself due to the restrictions imposed by the UK’s lockdown. Online readings, live streams, and recorded productions have all become commonplace as theatre practitioners have tried to keep busy during these months. The performing arts industry has been hit hard by the pandemic, but it has resulted in theatre companies embracing online technology and finding innovative ways to produce theatre. In addition to short plays, The Pod Play also features serialised episodes and Q&A sessions, all recorded as podcasts, a medium that has proved very popular during the lockdown period.
This continues to be a busy period for Julian. A new version of his play Flavius was recently long-listed by The Space for its ScriptSpace series, while an online production of his play Fade To Light is currently under development with The New Works Playhouse. His Gibraltar-themed monologue I Am Red And White was also recently produced on YouTube by Thematic Theatre and Small Steed. And with cultural events shortly re-starting, Julian will also be entering a number of plays for the postponed Gibraltar Drama Festival.
Ten Minutes and A Porn In Her Game are available through The Pod Play on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.
