Shakespeare streamed across the Territory
Tuesday 2 May 2006
Love spells and potions tantalised remote senior students into the wonderful world of Shakespeare when Bell Shakespeare’s Actors at Work took centre stage at the Northern Territory Open Education Centre (NTOEC) in Darwin on Friday 21 April.
The performance was enjoyed by a live audience and was streamed to students across the Territory via the Interactive Distance Learning (IDL) network.
NTOEC Principal Sherrill Christensen was part of the live audience, and said the special performance "Love’s Magic" introduced students to extracts from Shakespeare plays - Romeo and Juliet and Midsummer’s Night’s Dream.
"Visiting NTOEC students and students from Nightcliff High School and Kormilda College were part of the live audience in the Darwin studio, while remote students from Katherine and Alice Springs Schools of the Air and remote Indigenous communities enjoyed the performance via the new IDL software REACT," said Ms Christensen.
"The Shakespeare performance held the audience captivated and was equally enjoyed by the isolated students who were able to watch a live theatre performance in their own community ," said Ms Christensen.
"The combination of theatre and technology takes learning into a new era giving remote students access to live performances that many may otherwise miss out on - due to demographics and their remote location.
The REACT software is designed to provide a high quality interactive means of communication to remote students and schools utilising the latest in satellite communications technology. It allows IDL and conferencing to be conducted irrespective of geographic location," she said.
The performance was sponsored by Optus and Bell Shakespeare.