Broadway Hackathon Aims to Create Shakespeare-Related Theatre Apps | Playbill

News Broadway Hackathon Aims to Create Shakespeare-Related Theatre Apps The second annual event is being held at Lincoln Center today and tomorrow.

Attention theatre fans who know how to program: You can help build Broadway's future on the web at the two-day Broadway Hackathon April 18-19, sponsored by The Billy Rose Collection of the New York Public Library at Lincoln Center and Masie Productions. The Hackathon takes place at the Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center, next door to the Vivian Beaumont Theater, where The King and I is playing.

The purpose of the "hackathon" is not to hack anybody, but to compete to build the latest, hottest Broadway apps for smartphones and laptops.

For the event's sophomore year there is a special directive. According to NYPL's Doug Reside, “This year, in honor of the 400 years of Shakespeare’s legacy, we are especially interested in applications supporting the production of Shakespearean plays, though this focus should serve as an inspiration rather than a restriction.”

Sponsors say they are looking for participants to create apps and prototypes that will:

* Leverage the power of mobile technology to support the Broadway experience.
* Make the library’s collections more usable.
* Better connect actors, producers, creative teams, theatre makers and audiences.
* Allow the public to have fun with library collections.
* Connect public information about theatre from around the world.
* Explore the role of “apps” in the full theatre experience from idea to script to Broadway.

In return, the library will provide meals, coffee, WiFi and access to Broadway-related data from its extensive archives.

Reside wrote, “Teams will spend Monday morning imagining apps aimed at helping theater professionals of all kinds. Then teams combined with creatives, incubators and developers will have 24 hours, from 1 PM on Monday to 1 PM on Tuesday to develop either a sketched out map or prototype to demonstrate in a public presentation on Tuesday afternoon. The most promising applications will be selected for a longer incubation process leading to full releases.”

Difficulty: All work created at the hackathon will be released under an open license.

Tickets are free, but you must register in order to participate. Interested? Register here.

 
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