This Changes Everything puts young Canberrans centre stage

Posted on 19 July, 2022

“Exciting, desperately hopeful, thought-provoking.” This is how Director Jordan Best describes the Echo Theatre’s latest youth-based production, This Changes Everything.

The brainchild of playwright Joel Horwood, the script stands on the shoulders of its brilliant and intelligent young cast in a quest to pry open the thorniest conversations surrounding climate change and capitalism. It’s a play that permeates our everyday lives and sharpens our vision, raising questions and evoking deep meaning through its powerful messaging.

A radical narrative comes to life on stage as a group of rebellious and progressive young adults decides to remove themselves from modern society and rebuild a utopian community on an island. Every character has a powerfully unconventional vision—each vicariously rooted in creating meaningful change and re-thinking the world around us.

Rejecting predictable stereotypes surrounding young people, TikTok, phones, social media and relationships remain absent, with thought-provoking, intelligent conversations taking centre stage. Trailblazing a future where women in theatre begin to fill the seats missing at the table, This Changes Everything is written to have female voices championed at the forefront.

And while Jordan has created a play that does just that, she has also made room for diverse voices to be heard, with non-binary and young males making up the cast. Her directorial lens focuses the play on the complex layers of humans, as opposed to gender.

“Why is it that when you write a play for women, it has to be issues based around women? That’s not how we treat plays about men, they’re just about people,” she explains.

“What I find so fantastic about this play is that it’s really about people—flawed, messy, bad, good, complicated, strong, weak. And I made a decision very early…it’s written for girls, but there’s no reason why you can’t have a mix of genders. I removed gender from the equation because it’s not part of the text, it’s not part of the story. Everyone has they/them pronouns because it is just about people.”

Photography: Jane Duong.

Sometimes, when arts seek to confront the cracks that exist within our social tapestry, we can feel weighted by the sombre trajectory of our future. Where issues feel far too big, and we feel far too small. But operating on the surface of This Changes Everything is a rallying call to action, a belief in the fierce resistance of the individual. And as we listen to its powerful message, prepare to be inspired.

“It’s an extremely hopeful play because what it says is, ‘Change things. Stay, fight, change. Don’t take yourself out of the world, don’t give up. Don’t be apathetic. You have to be the change that you want in this world.’ I know that sounds really trite, but this is about saying to everyone, ‘Don’t just roll over and take it’.”

Because This Changes Everything seeks to echo the anxieties of youth, it’s easy to be coaxed into thinking this is a play directed towards young people, but as Jordan explains, it’s the complete opposite.

“One of the things that are so hard when you’re doing youth theatre, is this assumption that this is a play written for young people to be watched by young people. And it really isn’t,” she says.

“We need to start listening to young people, and it is hitting a point in the world right now that we need to start listening to young people, where it’s the older generation who need to see this,”

But underneath its powerful messaging lives a darkly funny and sharply observed narrative. Can we forge a more hopeful path forward? This Changes Everything seems to think so, and in these unpredictable and tumultuous times, perhaps this is the message we need now more than ever.

“It’s not bludgeoning you with a message, it’s a really fantastic story. When it says Animal Farm meets Lord of the Flies, it’s not wrong. It’s an exciting, engaging, and funny play that’s really well written and will make people think.”

Feature image: Cathy Bannister