Daniel York Loh – författare

Between 2020 and 2022, theatre had to adapt and, in doing so, challenged ideas of what was possible – and what was even 'theatre'.Due to the global pandemic, an exceptional and wide range of works were made for, or adapted to, brand new conditions and limitations. While these works are defined by interpandemic conditions in the Anthropocene, they serve as portals to thinking about theatre-making in the future.Gathered in this collection are pieces adapted or made for podcast theatre, a livestream illusionist interactive performance, an audience-uploaded hybrid performance, one-on-one online interaction, lip-synch opera-theatre, climate crisis activist manifesto film/theatre, spoken word and gaming installation art and multi-location broadcast plays, providing an accessible introduction to 'Transmedia' theatre.Transmedia theatre has been a boundary-breaking and rich area of performance since the 1990s, but the (by necessity) explosion of works that were created during the early years of the pandemic signalled a new, exciting and accessible method by which theatre-makers could share their work and also challenge their own practices.While these specific works are markers of a specific time in performance history, they also point ways forward, not only in terms of form and function, but in how educators, students and fellow practitioners could conceive of re-staging these works in person and/or on digital platforms.For a generation that has grown up online, whose vocabularies of expression are as much digitally native as they are IRL, transmedia theatre, and the realm too of VR and AR story and audience design which it borders, holds a firm place in busting open the realm of the possible.

Between 2020 and 2022, theatre had to adapt and, in doing so, challenged ideas of what was possible – and what was even 'theatre'.Due to the global pandemic, an exceptional and wide range of works were made for, or adapted to, brand new conditions and limitations. While these works are defined by interpandemic conditions in the Anthropocene, they serve as portals to thinking about theatre-making in the future.Gathered in this collection are pieces adapted or made for podcast theatre, a livestream illusionist interactive performance, an audience-uploaded hybrid performance, one-on-one online interaction, lip-synch opera-theatre, climate crisis activist manifesto film/theatre, spoken word and gaming installation art and multi-location broadcast plays, providing an accessible introduction to 'Transmedia' theatre.Transmedia theatre has been a boundary-breaking and rich area of performance since the 1990s, but the (by necessity) explosion of works that were created during the early years of the pandemic signalled a new, exciting and accessible method by which theatre-makers could share their work and also challenge their own practices.While these specific works are markers of a specific time in performance history, they also point ways forward, not only in terms of form and function, but in how educators, students and fellow practitioners could conceive of re-staging these works in person and/or on digital platforms.For a generation that has grown up online, whose vocabularies of expression are as much digitally native as they are IRL, transmedia theatre, and the realm too of VR and AR story and audience design which it borders, holds a firm place in busting open the realm of the possible.

… I’m not even properly Chinese I’m only half and half so that makes me feel all wrong and I just want to blend out and fit in and not stand out and with you I stand outWeStand OutThere’s no safety in numbersSorryThe ‘British Chinese’. So often regarded as a ‘model minority’. Quiet, high-achieving, polite, invisible…But when someone who is ‘British Chinese’ spends their life taking drugs, getting thrown out of school, claiming benefits, being chased in stolen cars, getting locked up, then rehabilitating onto the stage, where do they fit in? Oh, and they’re not quite ‘Chinese’ enough anyway. Semi-autobiographical, free-form and explosive, Daniel York Loh’s psychedelic gig-theatrical punk pop rap rock riff The Dao of Unrepresentative British Chinese Experience (Butterfly Dream) asks what path to choose, which identity politics to embrace or whether it’s just easier to follow the ‘Dao’ of ancient Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi and dream you’re a butterfly. Or, be a butterfly dreaming of being ‘Chinese’….This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere Kakilang production at London's Soho Theatre in June 2024.

'The foreign devils will be entranced by our performance and line our path back to Shandong with gold and cherry blossoms…'1917. Shandong Province, Northern China. Times are tough in Horse Shoe Village. Old Six and Second Moon struggle to earn enough to feed their young child. Big Dog struggles to overcome opium addiction and for Eunuch Lin, the fall of the Imperial Dynasty couldn’t have come at a worse time. Could a fierce war far away in Europe present an opportunity to put both themselves and their struggling nation on its feet?Forgotten is inspired by the little-known story of the 140,000 Chinese Labour Corps who left everything and travelled halfway around the world to work for Britain and the Allies behind the front lines during World War One.