Growing Up

Fresh, young, innovative dramatic work presented by National Youth Theatre Company (NYTC), headed up by actor/director Lindsay Farris, who also possesses a solid dollop of creative entrepreneurialism, who has turned a vision and mission into a reality in only three months.

Growing Up, presented by the Senior Company of the NYTC, twenty-four actors under the age of twenty-five performed, was mainly monologues and duologues. These works centered around common themes associated with growing up including ambition, confusion, angst and desire and focused not only on being a teenager and all that’s associated with that period of time, but also childhood.

The actors took turns at being the centerpiece and ensemble. This was incredibly well directed. Farris had actors come forward from the group to deliver their scenes while the other actors formed a throng or a gaggle that served as either inner monologues, or props, groups of passers-by or partygoers. Each actor was unrecognisable because they were dressed in long patent black raincoats with eccentric hats or nets or feathers. They would then stealthily make their way to the focus of the group, without the black gear, to perform their scene then somehow merge back into the ensemble of blackness by donning their gear again without being seen.

James Brown’s cool three-sided set created an enclosure in the mood of a bathroom, with shower curtains instead of windows and a bath, almost like a character, which was moved around the set. Internal clock pieces featured heavily in the set, so we were subtly reminded of time in respect to growing up and changing. This was also evident through a character dressed in white who wore a clock around his neck and gathered props from each scene. These props could have also represented memories from the characters.

Particular standouts included Bec Bignell, who performed a comic, high energy piece written by Virginia Gay. Lots of movement and the excellent use of a big red game show buzzer and a xylophone served for some light relief. Bignell was superbly cast for this fresh writing. Kirby Medway’s amusing short piece about the rain being God’s wee, among other things, was very well directed visually with a line of black umbrellas held by the ensemble and the two boys facing each and delivering the lines to each other.

There were a few pieces that either didn’t quite work, were too ambitious for these young actors or just lacked something. Sometimes there was too much movement from the ensemble, which verged on distracting, but overall this was a very polished, sophisticated production.

This whole production was superbly directed by Farris and we will no doubt be seeing a lot from these new theatre practitioners in the future.

These actors and writers have reminded us about the process of growing up. The question remains, do we ever stop growing up?

Emma Bell