The ‘streets’ are moving to Eastenders in an online spin-off called E20, which has already reached a massive a 2.8 million hits.
Launched on January 8th to celebrate Eastenders 25th anniversay E20 is the new show to watch with episodes ranging from 3 mins to 16 mins long. E20 producer Deborah Sathe says, “What I like is that mask that young people have. It’s all ‘wagwarn,’ ‘what’s happening,’ but actually when you see them at home with their mums they’re terribly polite and sweet. I wanted to celebrate what they are like on the streets and what they’re like at home.”
With backing music and lots of humour the street-slang scripted E20 is proving to provide what the youths of today want. E20’s young characters are Zsa Zsa, Fatboy, Leon Small and Mercy Olubunmi all trying to break away from the stubborn life of troubled families.
E20’s writers are all aged from 17-22; recruited from London Theatre Companies who were looking for talent. The writers have based scripts on conversations overheard between young people, so that E20 is something that they can relate to.
Words by Melissa Lewars.
