DRAMA kids across the globe have united to make a video produced by a local theatre company go viral, clocking up more than 9.4 million views in five days.
The Young People's Theatre is iconic in Newcastle but for maybe the first time, the YPT audience has become international thanks to video sharing platform Tik Tok.
"Our YPT students were very passionate about wanting Tik Tok content, so we started our Tik Tok a few months ago," theatre manager Chelsea Willis said.
"We created the account with the intention of showing a less polished, more behind-the-scenes view of what happens. When we woke up on Friday morning we couldn't believe the amount of engagement the video had."
The popular piece is a skit called 'Different ways actors exit the stage' and shows both tutors and senior students acting out hilarious roles as they leave the stage during a performance.
As of Wednesday morning it had clocked up more than 9.4 million views, 2.3 million likes and the YPT Tik Tok account has gained more than 20,000 new followers in five days.
"Tik Tok was our smallest social platform until this video," Ms Willis said.
"We absolutely love that it is reaching theatre kids all over the world, we can see people commenting from different time zones and kids commenting things like 'I've found my people'. Theatre really does create a wonderful sense of inclusion and community and we are thrilled that this has been the outcome of this video."
YPT, which is a not-for-profit organisation, plans to leverage the success of the video to create more Tik Tok content and hopefully get more budding young actors interested in theatre.
"We love that we have now created an online audience that we can share our creativity with and have another vehicle to perform through," she said.
YPT's next production is Tuck Everlasting which opens on Friday.
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