Tics, technology and a tell-all are featured in the works making up Canberra Youth Theatre's 2020 season.
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CYT's artistic director and chief executive officer, Luke Rogers, says one of the things that links the three 2020 productions is that each gives young people the opportunity to express themselves. And this is not just to each other but through "strong intergenerational conversations".
And, he says, the works "challenge audience expectations of what young people are capable of".
The first show, Katie Pollock's Normal (the Courtyard Studio, May 20-23), premiered in Sydney last year and was inspired by real-life events in upstate New York.
In Normal, 16-year-old Poppy starts developing vocal tics with symptoms akin to Tourette syndrome. This mysterious condition spreads across her small city, mostly affecting young women and as the community starts falling apart Poppy investigates the phenomenon.
"It's a detective story about a girl trying to find out what's happening."
Rogers will direct the production and young actors aged between 18 and 25 are encouraged to audition for the cast of four who will play multiple characters. The show is suitable for audiences 15 and older.
Then comes what he calls "a spectacle of a show" for up to 20 performers aged from nine to 13, who are also encouraged to audition. It's presented in collaboration with three other companies including Critical Stages Touring. I've Been Meaning to Ask You (at co-presenter the Street Theatre, June 17 to 19), directed by Daniel Evans, was created by Queensland company The Good Room and premiered in 2018.
"The young people get to ask a bunch of questions they've always wanted to know the answers to," he says.
"We get adults to respond to the questions."
There's music, too, and Rogers says the show is "part TED talk, part rock eistedfodd.
"It's very dynamic and energetic."
Rogers will also direct the third 2020 production, Impending Everyone by Michael Andrew Collins (the Courtyard Studio, October 21 to 24). First produced by the Australian Theatre for Young People in 2018, it's a high school thriller suitable for ages 13+, for a cast aged between 14 and 17.
"Someone sends an email to every single student."
The mysterious sender claims to have gained access to everyone's internet history, messages and metadata. The data will be released by the end of lunchtime the following day - the writings, thoughts and secrets of the whole school will be laid bare, for all to see.Can the perpetrator be found and stopped in time before everyone is exposed? Rogers says one of the interesting things about Impending Everyone is the impact technology is having on people and the practices, dilemmas and ethics involved.
He is marking his first anniversary as artistic director and chief executive. Rogers has enjoyed developing programs, getting to know the artistic community in Canberra, and working on collaborations with other companies.
"I'm refining our vision statement about what sets us apart from other companies.
"One of the things I'm trying to push is that I think the company first and foremost must always have youth as its primary focus. It's about giving young adults support through creating interesting and challenging theatre."
It's also about taking into account the different reasons participants become involved: having fun, building confidence, exploring their artistic development.
Canberra Youth Theatre was founded in 1972 and among its alumni are actor Samara Weaving (the film Ready or Not), and writer Tommy Murphy (author of Holding the Man).
- More information: canberrayouththeatre.com.au.