The Verbatim Project
Canberra Youth Theatre in association with the Australian Theatre For Young People (ATYP) THE VERBATIM PROJECT, AT ATYP THEATRE, Wharf 4, Hickson Rd., Walsh Bay. 19-22 July.
Canberra Youth Theatre under the Direction of Katie Cawthorne has developed a Verbatim work: THE VERBATIM PROJECT, with sixteen participants – ten 14-16 year olds and six 65-80 year olds – and brought it to Sydney for a short season, hosted by the Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP).
It is in the typical verbatim theatre staging formula – physical ‘choreography’ to illustrate and demarcate the issue segments with direct vocal communication to the audience – and is, relatively, arresting because of the range of personal experiences on some diverse life issues e.g. Mental Health – the issue of Depression, Anxiety; discussion on the difference between Love and Sex, Gender and Identity. The age differences within the group seemed to liberate the participants to some open and free observations and the mutual respect they had with each other, no matter the sex or age of the speaker let one have an empathetic endowment.