Expect Theatre's PlayME Digital Theatre Podcast Hits iTunes Charts

Last January, Toronto-based Expect Theatre launched PlayME, a bold initiative that had the potential to change the playing ground for Canadian theatre at home and internationally.

PlayME announced then that it would be a national digital theatre that would present theatre scripts in podcast format, thus raising the profile of Canadian plays and playwrights and offering audiences high-quality drama for free, lining up with the growing trend of "on-demand" entertainment.

One year later, and all of that has come true. Curated and produced by Expect's Artistic Directors Laura Mullin and Chris Tolley, PlayME is celebrating a wildly successful first year with its innovative approach that has landed them recognition on iTunes as one of the most popular Performing Arts podcasts in the world.

No other entity in the country is producing professional Canadian radio drama on a weekly basis. PlayME is the first and only weekly podcast that features Canadian plays and short stories by established and emerging writers, disseminating Canadian works to a broad, large-scale audience. PlayME is also in the process of becoming a platform for other theatre companies to showcase new work.

The world is listening to Canadian plays written by Canadian writers and performed by Canadian actors. PlayME's accomplishments in the digital world, gleaned from statistics provided by Expect's podcast distributor Podbean and through iTunes, include:

- PlayME is charting on iTunes and has been ranked as high as # 20for Performing Arts podcasts globally.

- PlayMe is listed on iTunes' coveted 'what's hot list'.

- More than 1,000 people on average listen to PlayME each day, with listeners in over 80 different countries worldwide - and the audience is growing weekly.

- Over 80% of listeners of PlayMe are international.

- In December of 2016, PlayME ranked higher on iTunes than the BBC's venerable weekly radio drama shows The Archers and BBC Drama of the Week.

Over the first year, PlayME presented 14 plays and short stories by talented writers such as Nicolas Billon, Anna Chatterton, Dwayne Morgan and Rosamund Small, among others; each in a weekly serialized format totalling 45 episodes. Each podcast is a fully produced radio drama, performed by distinguished Canadian actors. Actors such as Eric Peterson (Corner Gas), Barbara Budd (former host of CBC Radio's As It Happens), Christine Horne (Dora Award winner), Pamela Sinha (Dora Award winner) and Raoul Bhanjea (Mirvish Productions' Disgraced) performed in 2016.

PlayME launches its second season on Thursday, January 26 with the acclaimed Iceland, a play by Governor General's Award winner Nicolas Billon (Butcher, The Elephant Song, Greenland) whose Agamemnon launched PlayME in January of 2016. Iceland premiered at the 2012 SummerWorks Festival where it earned the Best New Play Award. The cast for the podcast is the same as for the original production: Kawa Ada, Claire Calnan and Christine Horne. PlayME takes advantage of the agility the digital age offers. Each PlayME script in the season is revealed at the end of the previous one.

Theatre audiences are shrinking, yet podcast audiences are growing along with the demand for creative digital content. PlayME brings theatre to a young, tech savvy demographic - an audience theatre is continually trying to attract. PlayME is available anytime and anywhere and makes theatre truly accessible no matter where someone lives. Audiences do not have to be in the theatre or even in the city where the play is being performed - they can be anywhere in the world with an internet connection. With this bold and innovative approach to disseminating plays, PlayME is transforming the way Canadian plays are experienced and accessed, increasing exposure for Canadian artists across the country and internationally.

For 'Drama on Demand', tune in at www.playmepodcast.com.

Expect Theatre is an award winning, Toronto-based company dedicated to producing cutting edge, original, multi-disciplinary productions that explore modern urban life. The company's creations incorporate elements such as site-specific spaces, verbatim theatre, integrated arts, and audience/performer interaction. Formed in 1998 by co-Artistic Directors Laura Mullin and Chris Tolley, the company's mission is to engage and inspire audiences through compelling narratives and innovative productions. Expect has a long track record of creating integrated theatre works, radio plays for CBC, viral videos and site-specific performance art installations. Works include Romeo/Juliet Remixed, Static, Awake, CBC Radio's Tunnel Runners, AWAKE the film and the annual urbanNOISE festival. Visit www.expect.org for more information.

PlayME is supported by the Toronto Arts Council's Open Door Fund, the Ontario Arts Council and the Ontario Trillium Foundation. PlayME's partners include SpiderWebShow Performance, Playwrights Guild of Canada and the Toronto Fringe Festival.

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