The 2007 Wonthaggi Blue Light Disco - Melbourne International Comedy Festival review

A blue light disco is the highlight of any teenager's life. It's an opportunity to cut loose, enjoy some dancing, banter with friends and partake in the odd bit of fingering. Or maybe not, as one of the rules of the dance within The 2007 Wonthaggi Blue Light Disco is no fingering. And also no drinking. But most importantly, no fingering.

Through a number of sketches, The Dizzy Biz (Alex Cooper, Kayla Hamill and Jordan Barr) bring the residents of this small town to life and shine a spotlight on what it's like to be a teenager in 2007. The show opens with the strict no-nonsense organisers setting up for the disco and it sets the scene for what to expect from these odd characters. The focus of the show is on a romance between two students, Frenchie and Jason, who each come with their own set of dramas.

Hell's Canyon - Melbourne Fringe Festival review

A text message to meet up for a sexual encounter in a park sets the wheels in motion in Emily Sheehan's Hell’s Canyon. While one sends the text and the other responds, neither Caitlin or Oscar are actually there to have sex. As we soon learn, there are scars that they both wear and the memories they share threaten to consume them both.

Oscar's brother, who Caitlin was dating at the time, has committed suicide six months ago. Oscar and Caitlin have not spoken since, drifting to extreme opposites lifestyles. Caitlin has become known for skipping school and fulfilling the sexual requests of the boys in her school, while Oscar has resorted to an isolated life, which includes eating his lunch in the teacher's staff room. The two are equally discontent with their lives and from their encounter in the park, decide to run away in an effort to shake up their worlds and see where things ends up.

Awakening review | fortyfivedownstairs

Sex, suicide, masturbation, rape and depression. These are a few of the themes that German playwright Frank Wedekind explored in his 1891 play Spring Awakening. While controversial at its time, it was an opportunity for teenagers to see themselves as people who have big ideas, difficult choices to make, and an awareness of sex and sexuality. Fast forward 126 years and Daniel Lammin's adaptation, Awakening - in collaboration with students from Monash Uni Student Theatre - is just as powerful, important and necessary as the original in giving people a true insight as to what teenagers must contend with in today's society.

Lammin has put together an extremely talented cast who excel in the challenging roles they share. Nicola Dupree, Samantha Hafey-Bagg, Eamonn Johnson, James Malcher, Sam Porter and Imogen Walsh all have great chemistry on stage and a clear understanding and appreciation of who their characters are, leading to some incredibly intuitive performances. Of particular note are Walsh, Dupree and Malcher, who take on each role with outstanding commitment and emotional intensity.

F. review

It's probably rarer now for parents to need to sit down and speak to their children about the birds and the bees. Books such as "Where Did I Come From?" now seem obsolete, and by the time teenagers are learning anything to do with sex education in high school, they already seem to know it all. Presented by Riot Stage as part of the Poppy Seed Festival, F. attempts to explore how a group of teenagers come to terms with sex and sexuality as most people of the last decade have - through technology.

Unfortunately the execution is not always successful, as the production's central concern with how technology is used with sex is at times completely ignored, or does not explore issues raised to any great depths. Thus, one of the main story lines - where two friends enter into a sexual relationship - is surprisingly developed without the use of any social media or technology whatsoever apart from one scene where the male character refers to the three voicemails he left her. In contrast, a female character's revelation that an ex-partner has put a naked photo of her on the internet is initially met with mediocre disgust by her friends but is immediately dropped and never mentioned again, nor do we see any impact this has on the character.

Sugarland review | Arts Centre Melbourne

Sugarland, the latest production by the Australian Theatre for Young People, is a play that revolves around the experiences of a group of teenagers living in Katherine, Northern Territory. With an upcoming singing competition as its focus, it’s a gritty and honest look at the challenges and difficulties teenagers in rural Australia often face, including homelessness, domestic violence, drugs and suicide.

The young cast played by Narek Arman, Xanthe Paige, Calen Tassone, Jonas Thomson and Dubs Yunupingu, have a deep understanding of the characters and their motivations, and develop them carefully into complex human beings. Under the watchful direction of Fraser Corfield and David Page, the five actors explore who these people are as the characters figure out where they belong in this mixed-up world. The choreography of the boxing fight between Jimmy and Aaron (Tassone and Arman) in particular is impressively directed, with both actors clearly in the moment and allowing their characters to take control of the situation.

and now we wait. review | Melbourne Fringe Festival | Northcote Uniting Church

Playing at the 2015 Melbourne Fringe Festival, Stephanie Clark's and now we wait. plays out like a grim re-imagining of The Breakfast Club for, in this case, there is a shooter loose in the school and the five teenagers find shelter in an unused theatre. While they nervously remain hidden not knowing where the shooter is and waiting for the nightmare to end, the group gradually faces some truths about themselves and what is ultimately important to them.

Based in Warragul, Impact Theatre is an enterprising company that focuses on young people writing and creating original theatre productions. The cast ranges from 18-21 years of age, is a combination of first-time and regular performers with the company. While the difference in skill levels and ability to play more nuanced characters between them is evident, the entire cast (Emily Legg, Sarah Hartnell, Kyle Wright, Daniel Warenycia and Clark herself) remains dedicated to their characters and the situation they find themselves in. However, Hartnell as uptight smart girl Emily, and Wright as the jokester Nick, provide the most convincing performances of the night.

Backwards review - Melbourne Fringe

We've all been there. We've all experienced the highs, the lows, the excitement, the fear and the joy. But eventually, we have to let go of our childhood. No matter how hard we try, we must become adults. Or do we? In Emily Taylor's Backwards, the idea of childhood and adulthood coexisting is shown through a number of characters, both children and adults, who are all played by the talented and engaging Taylor.

There are a variety of stories in Backwards, and Taylor knows the exact moments in which to switch from one to the other and how much of each one to actually show. There is an implicit understanding that we, as the audience, do not need to see everything or be told everything to be drawn into the story and connect with its characters. It is this great skill that Taylor possesses that allows her to be the engaging storyteller that she is.

and now we wait. by Impact Theatre | Melbourne Fringe Festival interview

Imagine being at school and suddenly hearing guns being fired and people screaming and running for their lives. In Impact Theatre's and now we wait., we follow five teenagers who must hide in an abandoned theatre as they try to escape a high school shooting. Fortunately it’s not a scenario that Australia has ever faced, however writer Stephanie Clark, hopes that what will resonate with the audience will be on a wider scale.

"The event that underpins and now we wait. happens all over the world in various forms every day. It is not always gun-violence. It is not always in schools. But it is always prevalent. Australia isn’t immune from that, and that is why I wanted to write this", she explains. "The Lindt Café Sydney siege is so exemplary of this. And then there is the far too common occurrence of family violence, sexual violence and violence against women."