Berlin's Maxim Gorki Theater proved Facebook can be home to a live theater experience Monday, in what it calls Facebook's first performance. Twitter saw its first performance last year with the Royal Shakespeare Company's rendition of Romeo and Juliet.
The German theater's performance of Theodor Fontane's Effi Briest premiered on the social network in a special adaptation for the "online Facebook stage," Reuters reports.
"We were really pleased to try something new and innovative, and have learned a lot about how we can use the internet for our productions," a spokesperson for the theater told Reuters, adding that the theater would consider using Facebook for future performances. "Facebook can't replace the stage, but it offers some really interesting opportunities to perform theatre online."
Status updates, shared photos and wall posts between characters were part of the interactive experience. Audience members voted for their favorite wedding dress option and contributed to a love letter exchanged between characters. Of course, there were periods during the show where Facebook chatter was discouraged. The performance narrator sent "silence in the theater, please," messages, sort of like a virtual dimming of the lights.
The theater says some 1,200 people joined the Facebook group before stage admittance was closed (you can no longer gain admittance), but many others may have watched online during the production. A more traditional version of the production goes up this Saturday.