Merthyr Tydfil takes centre stage this week in a new exciting multi-platform drama being shown on digital and broadcast channels and through live events in three Welsh locations over seven days.
GALWAD: A STORY FROM OUR FUTURE blends conventional forms of storytelling (audio drama, TV drama and live performance) with creative technology, ‘citizen journalism’ and social media to form a new kind of cultural event in which the audience is invited to follow a story in real-time over a week.
One of the partners in this Creative Wales commissioned project is Wellbeing@Merthyr (Merthyr Tydfil Leisure Trust), where county borough councillors, local community groups and residents have been closely involved – including helping to develop the GALWAD story and being part of the story itself.
GALWAD began on Monday with an electrical storm breaking over Swansea Bay, and 16-year-old girl Efa from Merthyr Tydfil coming face to face with her future 46-year-old self from 2052.
At the same time, strange occurrences are also taking place across Wales, and GALWAD follows these stories during the week.
The project was inspired by the Welsh Government’s Wellbeing of Future Generations Act, which ‘puts the rights of future generations at the heart of public policy and planning’.
GALWAD is being produced by Collective Cymru, a pan-Wales partnership led by National Theatre Wales.
Led by Claire Doherty, GALWAD worked with Alex Mc Dowell – the production designer for the Minority Report science fiction film – whose team and community partners worked with 120 participants across Wales to imagine a future world set in 2052, drawing in world-leading experts in ecology, engineering, digital technologies, politics and futurology.
You can follow Galwad throughout this week (26 September-2 October) by following @GALWAD22 on social media or via the website – www.galwad.cymru The story will focus on Merthyr Tydfil today (Wednesday) and Thursday.
Or on Sunday 2 October watch the whole story unfold on Sky Arts with a four-hour takeover including a 90-minute live finale broadcast from Blaenau Ffestiniog followed by the final chapter of the story – a 60-minute drama set in 2052.
