ABOUT THE PROJECT
Inspired by the Well Being of Future Generations Act (2015), Wales’ remarkable law putting the rights of future generations at the heart of decision-making, GALWAD is a story that brings a possible future roaring into the present. It pushes the boundaries of how stories have been told, with characters and story-lines connecting across TV drama, live performance, social media and news.
The story proposed that for one week the future made contact with the present - with messages and information coming through on social channels from 2052. It was only in the screening of the drama on Sunday 2nd October that we saw the world of 2052 fully revealed.
The project was a new kind of broadcast in partnership with Sky Arts, offering audiences a catch-up of the full story over 4.5hours.
Over 2.5million people watched GALWAD with the project reaching over 5.4m people through its unique distributed, real-time storytelling. It was a true act of the collective imagination with hundreds of creatives and communities working on the project as designers, performers, film-makers, musicians, writers and behind-the-scenes production crew.
GALWAD built on Wales' considerable history of site-specific performance, youth-led theatre practice and expertise in broadcast and digital media and sustainability. A particular inspiration for us was Islwyn Ffowc Elis' Welsh language novel 'Wythnos yng Nghymru Fydd (A Week in Future Wales)' and Morgan Parry's National Eisteddfod Lecture '2050: A Week in the Future'.
GALWAD was selected as a finalist in the prestigious SXSW Innovation Awards 2023.
Image: Aisha-May Hunte as Efa in the live finale of GALWAD in Blaenau Ffestiniog. Photo by Kirsten McTernan