young lives – courageous stories
We’ve performed and run workshops for lots of young people recently. We’ve been struck by the courage these audiences have shown as they discuss the challenges and successes in their lives.
Whether it is the young leaders of the Mitchell Shire in Seymour, teenagers living in Whittlesea, year 9’s from MLC, participants in the MTC scholarship program, or one of the other playback events for young people, we have been regularly inspired.
If you’re a young person and you’ve been part of a playback performance or workshop recently, feel free to ask us a question or tell us what you thought.
A great article featuring our AD, Andrew Gray and our collaboration with the Melbourne Theatre Company's youth scholarship program appeared in the Age on Friday:
"On the first day of the course, the students worked with the Melbourne Playback Theatre Company. After just a few minutes with each student, the professional actors improvised some material based on each person's story.
"One student who was clearly impressed by the experience with Playback was Jack, 16, from Bendigo. For him, the course has come at just the right time. He lost his family home in the bushfires this year, walking away with only the clothes on his back. "Stuff like this, it takes you away from where you are, and where I was wasn't a good place" he says.
Jack says he was scared at first, but the course has been a huge boost for his confidence and helped him open up about difficult issues.
"People deal with [the fires] in different ways; that's why this is good. I just didn't talk about it at all. We had this counsellor, but I didn't talk about it. Here, after a couple of days I'm talking about it to people I basically don't know.
"Everyone here has been really good; they give you the time and the space. And maybe for me, that experience with Playback gave me closure.""