Theatrical risking : performance innovation in Australian theatre for young people

Abstract

Within contemporary performance arenas young people and companies who develop work for them are a vital part of the vanguard of innovative live performance works. To ignore what is taking place in the making of performance for young audiences is to ignore the new possibilities in meaning-making and theatrical form. Historically, Theatre for Young People (TYP) in Australia has been on the margins of recognition and some theatre industry commentators have called it “second-class theatre” (Butler, 2003). However there is a growing understanding that Theatre for Young People, at least in Australia, is the cutting edge of contemporary performance, not a backwater.

This paper argues that the aesthetics and performance practices of Theatre for Young People is at the forefront of a paradigm shift in developing and delivering performance. The paper will consider the position of Theatre for Young People as a site for radical theatrical practice that embraces notions of globalization, mediatisation and new forms of narrative.

To investigate the Australian field of practice the discussion will be located inside the work of Arena Theatre Company based in Melbourne, Victoria a southern state in Australia.