Skype spreads the spirit of Christmas to children across the UK
We recently teamed up with Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) in London to bring some Christmas magic to patients and their families who will be in the hospital during this difficult time of year.
In a world’s first, a special performance of Peter Pan from Llandudno’s Venue Cymru was brought live into the hospital using Skype’s technology. After walking down the special ‘blue carpet’, the audience experienced the pantomime as if they were actually there, whilst also having the opportunity to interact live with the cast.
The hospital’s Lagoon restaurant was turned into a makeshift theatre for the afternoon, with a face painter and a magician making sure that the children had a day to remember. During the interval, a ‘Punch n Judy’ show kept the audience hooked and our special Skype Panto Cut-Out gave them the chance to take a memento away with them.
The live pantomime broadcast, which was launched in November by British TV star Craig Revel Horwood, builds on Skype’s partnership with the largest pantomime producer in the world, Qdos Entertainment. This festive season, Skype’s distinctive sign-in tone and ringtone will feature in 24 Christmas productions, up and down the UK, in front of an estimated audience of 1.5 million.
But it didn’t stop there. A few days before the live pantomime screening, we also brought some Christmas cheer to Hoyland Common Primary School in South Yorkshire when pupils took part in a Skype video call with a pantomime dame. They learned about the history of pantomime, the work that goes into becoming a pantomime dame, and asked questions about what it was like to be in a pantomime.
Skype is about bringing families together to share in special moments which is exactly what panto has been doing for over two and half centuries . It’s a unique tradition and we’ve been thrilled to be part of it this year, helping to give it a technological twist.
