Teenage Trilogy

It’s probably one of the most testing periods in life but also one that is both fun and exciting – the terrible teens! A time dominated by peer pressure, puberty, new experiences and maturing into adulthood (some of us!), it can actually be quite daunting for both the teenager and their parents and family. However, we all go through it and being open and talking to kids about your experiences through the teens can be very beneficial in helping them take their first steps into adulthood.

And, that’s the idea behind a fantastic new show that is coming to Perth Theatre this February 16^th and 17^th – Teenage Trilogy.

Labelled as, “a show for teenagers and anyone who has ever been one”, Teenage Trilogy explores the heady and challenging time of transition that we all must go through by putting on a dance theatre production in three dynamic parts. The show’s director and critically acclaimed choreographer, Christine Devaney, explains.

“The audience can expect a great night out in three parts! Part one is a welcome to the space and there will be an exhibition of artworks that have been created alongside the development of the show. There are contributions by teenagers from Perth, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Denmark, Belgium and India which have all been pulled together by the visual and video artists working on the project. There are contributions by teenagers from Perth, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Denmark, Belgium and India.

“The next part is a live performance featuring a couple of guests. Four wonderful dancers take us on a journey through many teenage experiences – the good and the not so good!

“Finally, we end with a silent disco made up from our own ‘Teenage Times’ playlist. I’ve been collecting these songs for some time now and I’ve found that it’s a great way to get people to talk about their own experiences.”

Back in 2015, Christine – who is the artistic director of Curious Seed, the company which has created the show – started to think about how her own teenage years compared with the challenges that the youngsters of this generation face. Originally the show was going to be just for the teens, but that quickly changed as Christine began to develop her show.

“I was going to create three short pieces just for teenagers about the different experiences and challenges of their lives. However, once I began talking with present day teenagers as well as people my own age and much older who were remembering their own teenage times, I became much more interested in trying to create a show that connects us through what we share about this particular time in all our lives; and that’s that everyone has to go through it!”

And, will parents and grandparents get a lot out of the show as well as their teenagers?

“Absolutely! I really hope so,” Christine says.

“It’s a show about teenagers, made for teenagers and anyone who has ever been one. So, it’s a show for every generation and we’re proud of that. I think it will be a fun show to go along to with your parents and/or grandparents and it may even help to initiate some new conversations between the different generations afterwards. It’s a show about teenagers, made for teenagers and anyone who has ever been one. So, it’s a show for every generation and we’re proud of that.

“We think it’ll be a great experience for anyone 12 and over, and the performance is British Sign Language interpreted and audio described, and we also have a guided touch tour for the exhibition too.”

Teenage Trilogy will be one of the first shows to come to the recently reopened Perth Theatre, and after the success of the homecoming panto and with an exciting line-up announced to kick-off the year, Christine is really looking forward to bringing the production to one of Scotland’s oldest theatres.

“I’m delighted that our show will be one of the first in the new studio theatre. We recently spent two weeks rehearsing the show at the theatre, so we got to know the space quite well and we loved it. We’ve also met some great people with all of the work we’ve done in Perth, so it’ll be nice to see them all again!”

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For more information on Teenage Trilogy, visit the event listing in our ‘What’s On’ section or go to the Horsecross website and purchase tickets.