What our young people are thinking—inside the theatre of their minds
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If you are keen to understand young people—what motivates, frustrates, exhilarates and preoccupies them—then Canberra Youth Theatre (CYT) will be shining its spotlight on the inner working of their minds this year.
Canberra’s longest-running theatre company dedicated to young people launched 2020 Season on Thursday with three thought-provoking and challenging local productions.
For nearly 50 years, Canberra Youth Theatre has been an incubator for Canberran youth—from ages 7 to 25—to express themselves and challenge others.
Through the company’s popular workshops and regular productions, young artists can creatively vent their worries about the environment, social media, school, and exclusion, among many other topics.
Artistic Director Luke Rogers said this year would be a particularly expansive one for the theatre company as it produced three major productions which would take young artists to perform on stages at the Canberra Theatre Centre and Street Theatre—as well as launching a suite of new training programs to further expand the opportunities for early career artists in the ACT.
Luke Rogers.
Luke said the company was thrilled to announce three contemporary Australian works which would appeal to audiences of all ages and reflect some of the more complex social issues being negotiated by younger Australians.
“Our 2020 season asks some very big questions, explores our identities, and interrogates the connections we make with each other. Our young artists will share stories that are relevant, urgent and reflect the challenges of contemporary life. They will provoke intergenerational conversations and stir up debate. They will inspire and challenge us, make us think, make us laugh, and tell it like it is,” Luke said.
CYT will be teaming up with The Street to bring I’ve Been Meaning to Ask You to Canberra. Created by Brisbane company The Good Room, this production is one where age collides with experience in a revealing one-hour tell-all, where adults take a backseat as a powerful panel of 9 to 13-year-olds drop some truths…and the mic.
I’ve Been Meaning To Ask You. Photo: Stephen Henry.
Combining anonymous submissions with high-impact video design, I’ve Been Meaning to Ask You ignites a conversation about what you’ve been told, what you know to be true, and what you want to believe.
Normal is an urban detective story in which the investigator is a teenage girl and the body is her own. Poppy has developed a tic. A twitch. A spasm. It spreads through her body, then her group of school friends and before long, the whole town.
Normal. Photo: Lightbulb Studio.
Nobody can explain it, but as the ‘disease’ spreads, the community begins to fall apart. Who or what is to blame? And how are they going to fix it? Inspired by the true story of ‘The town that caught Tourette’s’, this provocative and critically-acclaimed Australian play raises questions about what it means to fit in, the viral nature of mass hysteria, and the pressures on young women fighting for agency.
Their third and final production for the year Impending Everyone explores what happens when we have to own up to the things we’ve said online, when anonymity is stripped away and our desires are laid bare.
Someone at school has gained access to everyone’s internet history, messages, and metadata. All the things everyone’s looked up and said. They plan to release them. But the students can’t let this happen. They have secrets that can’t come out, and less than one day to stop their release.
Impending Everyone. Photo: Lightbulb Studio.
It is a timely work amid the rise of technology and the erosion of our rights to privacy. The play provokes questions around identity: who we are, how we are perceived by our peers, and the impacts the internet and social media are having on our lives.
Both Impending Everyone and Normal will be performed at the Canberra Theatre Centre and Luke said the relevance of these productions to audiences of all ages was undeniable.
“We really hope we attract strong audiences, not only for the entertainment and production values we will provide but because this theatre is incredibly relevant to young people themselves, to their parents and families. This is intelligent, thought-provoking and important theatre. It is for everyone.”
He added that ticket prices would be kept accessible in order to engage as wide an audience as possible.
Canberra Youth Theatre also provides development opportunities for young people to assist and be mentored by professional artists in the areas of design, direction, stage management and producing—and has a strong tradition of providing creative pathways for young performers in the region.
An expanded Emerging Artists program will offer professional and creative development opportunities for young artists aged 18-25 including an intensive half-year training program for actors, a further series of Masterclasses, and a Resident Artists program.
The Resident Artists program will be a year-long incubator for early career artists and theatre makers who are passionate about creating new works, and dedicated to challenging their artistic practice.
These artists will be embedded in the life of the company and participate in a program of creative developments, performances and individual projects.
The Actors Company is a program for performers aged 18-25 years who wish to pursue advanced actor training within an ensemble. Company members will work with experienced professional artists, exploring independent theatre making practices, and develop the tools required to build a sustainable career
Building on the success of their 2019 program, the company will continue partnering with leading theatre professionals to deliver specialised Masterclasses for emerging creatives across a range of disciplines.
These workshops will offer young artists the chance to experience a range of performance practices and training methodologies, develop industry skills, and provide professional pathway opportunities.
In 2020 the program will be expanded to encompass creative practices beyond performance, including writing and directing.
The company continues to offer weekly and holiday workshops at Ainslie and Gorman Arts Centres and in schools across the ACT for young artists in years 1-12.
For details of the upcoming productions and links to enrol in their programs see canberrayouththeatre.com.au.
Feature image: Lightbulb Studio
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