Writer Billy Barrett: It’s True, It’s True, It’s True!

The Space Arts Podcast

When the pope’s favourite artist was accused of raping a 15-year-old girl, the ensuing seven-month case was widely publicised. Award-winning theatre show ‘It’s True, It’s True, It’s True’ interweaves jaw-dropping court transcripts with history, myth, contemporary insight and moments of satire to ask: how much has really changed?

And when it comes to change - that’s a topic that Billy Barrett and his theatre company, Breach, have had to embrace in recent times. Their show was due to return on tour at the Barbican over spring 2020, when a national lockdown threw a spanner in the works.

But ever adaptable and ever ambitious, Billy and his team had already turned their three-woman-theatre-show into a digital film. Instead of taking the show on the road, the play aired on BBC Four, and was hosted on the National Gallery website to help Breach offer a new audience the best seats in the house.

Billy explains to Fiona and Clare what challenges the team faced stepping into a digital world and why they discovered partnerships were the key to successful distribution.

For more about Breach Theatre: BreachTheatre.com

Resources referred to during this podcast:

Creating Global Audiences: Fiona Morris, shares her thoughts on the ways in which digital technologies can help arts organisations create global audiences
https://www.thespace.org/resource/creating-global-audiences

Isolation, In Your Words - BBC Culture In Quarantine
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000p08z

Presented by Fiona Morris and Clare Freeman.

Music: Jangal & Plantations - written & performed by Soumik Datta/published by Bucks Music Group Ltd

For more about The Space, visit thespace.org