For me pure Youth Theatre is the one with no auditions and affordable fees or no fees at all. Targeted at bringing a democratic, eclectic and inclusive groups together it uses that mix to be an artistic alternate to what Peter Brook called Dead Theatre – original and not a copy of what the adults do.
Having run a Youth Theatre for 16 years, the majority of people disagree with me – and they are mainly young people! They want to do real stuff and be a real theatre company. So, when looking through the material in the Fringe, it can take a bit of digging to find anything by the yoof…
But if you want to support and be a good person, whilst enjoying the safety of a Disney show or then then hunt for Musicals with recognisable names from young companies – they can have “Jr version” attached to the title – there’s quite a lot to choose from. I have avoided them here.
I have also strayed from my own definition – slightly – and here are a few worthwhile causes and for some, notably good stuff worthy of your time. I have picked 11, but there are a lot more if you go searching. Some companies I have seen, some companies I have not but they represent commitment to being here and doing something a bit different. So, if you can, take a risk and support. They are more than the future by the way; they are very much our present…
As for how present? Most are on short runs because of costs, academic start dates/returns and whilst people may be up for subsidising young folk more than professional ones, the limits are constantly being expanded – especially those from far away.
Oh, and to avoid disappointment, I may get to review some of them – I shan’t get to review all of them because I don’t take my tent and live in Edinburgh for 3 ½ weeks…
Couple of notes – venues and early productions. Bedlam Theatre is run by students so will host a lot of able student theatre work. Well worth a visit. And Dance Base in the Grassmarket is the go to for international contemporary dance and should be worth a visit as it also hosts a lot of young performers.
And remember halfway through August, Scottish schools return so a lot of work by young people will hit early Fringe and disappear before it hits its stride so buy early, buy often to catch em all!
Let’s start with Scotland.
Edinburgh College’s Performance Academy Scotland (PASS) have a couple of shows and for one night only, you can catch their variety show, Unstoppable which is at Church at artSpace@StMarks on the 16th of August at 18:00. You get to see more than just a show and possible stars of the future at an early part of their careers. They also have History Mystery, an exciting interactive piece of children’s theatre at PASS Theatre from the 26th to the 30th. It’s for 6- to 10-year-olds and there is something really exciting and daunting when early career performers take on children. They think they are taking on children’s theatre… oh the merry fools. Will the mischievous Tick Tock Taker win or will the kids leap through time and suspended belief to win out? That’s the mystery…
Dance Base’s PRIME Dance Company appear at Assembly @DanceBase from the 11th to the 16th with Common Ground, an intergenerational double bill with Lothian Dance Company. Both begin at 14:40. This is a lovely bold production that will include how both generations face up to the challenges of today – a time they both share.
University productions abound and amongst many, many others – Bristol, Exeter, St Andrews, Aberdeen, Earlham College, York, Edinburgh, Cambridge, Stirling, Napier, Manchester from the UK. Each and every one, like the American influx of earnest students, are hungry (perhaps due to the £1 pizza doubling their slice to £2) and enthusiastic. Another company for whom I have a soft spot are Student Theatre at Glasgow (STAG) who have Detective Heartbreak: A One Man Noir from the 7th to the 15th at 15:45, at C Aquila. It’s an unsolvable case, aint they all, in an offbeat parody about clowns, magicians and dating apps…
It’s an unsolvable case, aint they all, in an offbeat parody about clowns, magicians and dating apps…
Hungry Wolf Visionary Youth Theatre – what a brilliant name, wonder if their theme tune comes from the 80’s – bring When The Tide Comes In to the Space@ Niddry Street from the 12th to the 15th at 12:55.Created by the young people, but written by Naomi Denny, Hungry Wolf are an award-winning company, in a show that challenges why things are all falling apart. On a beach. After GCSEs. Hungry Wolf boldly talks of taking youth theatre one step beyond so really might be well worth a look see.
Be My Baby at12:35 is from the Isle of Man’s Parker and Snell Youth Company who I have a real soft spot for. Really decent work from these young people year on year draws me back in. At Space on the Mile from the 10th to the 15th, it is a heart rendering tale of four teenage girls seeking refuge whilst pregnant. It’s 1964 and neither they nor society are ready for teenagers to become young mothers. It’s destined to be a tough watch.
Aquila Youth Theatre are back at the Fringe with Night of the Fox at the Space @ Niddry Street at 14:55 from the 10th to the 15th. 11 years young, they are a Sandhurst based Youth Theatre formed to get young people to the Fringe. They have a very decent pedigree and this year mystery and mysticism at the heart of a forest, a social media ban and the quest of friends who go deep into the forest, and even deeper into themselves.
With The Orchardist, from the Magdalen College School Drama from Oxford is a production powerhouseclaiming they have 14 productions per year! This is about acceptance in youth as a newcomer manages a feat of daring – jumping for a thirty-foot oak tree and surviving it. Younger kids think he is a miracle, the pastor’s son is not wanting to give up his leadership of the group – but Lucas, the miracle boy keeps doing extraordinary things. Running from the 18th to the 22nd at the Space @ Surgeon’s Hall at 11:15.
City Youth Theatre bring Numbers to the Space @ Niddry Street at 18:05 running from the 10th to the 15th. They promise Talons, Teeth, Toxicity….as a new Head Girl is to be appointed to an all girl’s school, and these girls are all up for the position. Four girls, one hour, old friendships, a new opportunity…
Guns in Dragonland is from the Los Angeles Theatre Initiative at 18:05 at the Space @ Niddry Street from the 17th to the 22nd. The number of American young people that flood the city is daunting and in amongst the overly happy musicals there are some more thoughtful and challenging theatrical gems – this sounds like one of them. This is created and presented by the students themselves tackling American students facing their mortality with their guardian angels – dragons! It’s all about gun culture by those who know on behalf of those who have had to cower when confronted, literally, by guns and the culture of that amendment giving a right to bear arms.
R & J: The Lost Children of Verona arrives courtesy of The Barstow School Theatre Program. It hits the Studio at Nicolson Square and in another short run is on from the 8th to the 12th. They say it is available at various times so check the link below. Shakespeare’s story of two star crossed lovers is probably the one which young people resonate most with. Charting how a community gather to contemplate the tragedy amongst them, we see the fractures in families and how accountability matters.
A Volume of Smoke, from Henrico High School is on at various times and are taking us back to a fire in 1811 at the Richmond Theatre for eyewitness accounts from the people affected by it who worked in the theatre and art professions – and how it led to a puritanical banning of public performances… You can catch it at The Great Hall at Nicolson Square but check the link below for times. Another short run – 7th till the 12th.
