Aside
BYT go live on the internet!
This was our first public performance of the P.A.S.H show. (Positive Adolescent Sexual Health), at the Byron Community Centre Theatre.
Byron Quest
Grab some friends, make a team, register online at
www.byronquest.com
for just $5, work out some nifty outfits ( optional but hey lets have some fun!!)
and come join us on October 14th in Byron for the best morning of fun, meeting whacky characters, undertaking strange challenges, solving riddles, collecting evidence from various shops in town in this amazing scavenger hunt. Ending up at the Byron Flea Market to celebrate and see who wins the great prizes!!
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Video project
Photo: Tilka Fosmale, Honey Jade, Antonia Canosa, Lisa Apostolides Director of Byron Youth Theatre and production crew.
A Byron Council Small Change Youth grant is enabling Tilka Fosmale, Byron Youth Theatre members and other local youth create a short video which will expose what it’s like to grow up in Byron Bay.
“There are many young people doing amazing things here” comments Tilka “and there are also many specific issues we have to deal with which some adults don’t really understand”.
Part of the inspiration for the project came from BYT members being interviewed by Antonia Canosa, a PhD graduate of Southern Cross University for her dissertation about the effects of growing up in a tourist destination.
“Having grown up in a tourist destination in Italy I was interested to explore how young people in Byron Shire negotiate a sense of identity and belonging amidst the continuous flow of visitors.”
Findings from Antonia’s research suggest that young people have a strong sense of connection and belonging to their community, including the natural and built environment, which is challenged by the transient nature of tourism activity in the region. There are several key challenges that young people face growing up in the Byron Shire including feelings of alienation at peak tourist times. Young people have also talked about the perceived lack of safety at these times and of the impacts of tourism activity on the natural environments in their community. Transport and events in the North of the Shire are also problematic with the latter currently being addressed by Byron Youth Service.
Honey Jade, who is involved as part of the production crew recognises that it there is little opportunity for young people to voice their opinions in the community in a constructive way.
“We’d love to see Youth Council come back, apart from all the great projects that they organised, it was a way of us having a say”
To get involved in this production please contact Tilka via byronyouththeatre2481@gmail.com
World Suicide Prevention Day Event
September 10th marks World Suicide Prevention Day and BYT are organising a special event at the Youth Activity Centre in Byron Bay thanks to some funding from North Rivers Community Foundation (NRCF)
The afternoon will see us presenting a short video of our Here Today Forum Theatre production which toured local high schools in June this year followed by a community forum with guests speakers discussing how best to support and protect our young people.
Please come join us in raising awareness, sharing strategies and building great community safety nets.
Cakes and refreshments will be on sale as a small fundraiser for BYS who we want to thank for supporting this event
Mind Made Me Vox Pops – Christine Gobbet Freeman
We spoke to Christine straight after the Lismore City Hall show.
Here Today
Performed at Shearwater Steiner School, Mullumbimby.
This is our second forum production.
Forum theatre was developed by South American dramatist Augusto Boal, who originally called it Theatre of the Oppressed.
Theater of the Oppressed is an arsenal of theater techniques and games that seeks to motivate people, restore true dialogue, and create space for participants to rehearse taking action. It begins with the idea that everyone has the capacity to act in the “theater” of their own lives; everybody is at once an actor and a spectator. We are “spect-actors!” — a term which Boal coined.
Boal points out that when we are simply passive audience members, we transfer our desire to take action onto the characters we identify with, and then find that desire satiated as the conflict resolves itself on stage, in films or in the news. Catharsis substitutes for action.
Boal, following Brecht, calls this bourgeois theater, which functions to reproduce elite visions of the world and pacify spectators. He says bourgeois theater is “finished” theater; the bourgeoisie already know what the world is like and so simply present it onstage.
In contrast to bourgeois theater, “the people” do not yet know what their world will be like Their “authentic” theater is therefore unfinished, and can provide space to rehearse different possible outcomes. As Boal says: “One knows how these experiments will begin but not how they will end, because the spectator is freed from his chains, finally acts, and becomes a protagonist.
Broken
A four minute promo from the public show at Byron Community Centre in November 2016.
After each show we circulate a one page, anonymous survey to all our audience members, requesting feedback and suggestions for future topics to cover. Domestic and family violence featured highly in the surveys and this request was met by BYT cast and Director Lisa Apostolides by the creation of their first, linear play called “Broken”.
Funded by Northern Rivers Community Foundation and a donation from Splendour In the Grass festival, Lisa wrote the play which was then workshopped by BYT cast members and actor Sam Hemphill.
“ I decided to play a lead role of Lily in this production” shares Lisa “ as I didn’t feel it appropriate for the majority of the violence to be directed at a young person. I engaged Sam to play the role of my new partner who has difficulties in dealing with my teenage son, Daniel, played by Seth Freeman, from a previous relationship. Both Lily and Daniel suffer verbal, emotional and physical abuse.
The work shopping and rehearsal period were intense and fruitful in creating an extremely moving and powerful play which highlights the complex problems in such situations and how to access assistance. Other characters of Daniel’s girlfriend and her friends played by Serren Glenn, Tilka Fosmale, Kia Walsey and Brynn Davis-Hay created a fantastic supporting subplot adding to the tension and drama.
The Women’s Resource centre, the Men and Family Centre, Ontrack community program, headspace Lismore, ACON Lismore, local Police and Community housing were all consulted during the development of this play as well as feedback from an online survey.
Performances were held at four local high schools as well as community performances at The Drill Hall, Mullumbimby and Byron Theatre with outstanding response from young people and adults.
No One Way
No One Way, a production which focuses on the issues faced by LGBTIAQ+ youth was the next original theatre performance to be created by BYT in 2016. The community’s support for this production became apparent early on in the research and interview phase. So many wonderful LGBT+ community members came forward to share their experiences across a wide age range. The legendary 80’s DJ Stephen Allkins, now a Northern Rivers community member donated funds raised from one of his famous My House is Your House parties, which added to the Country Arts Support Program ( Regional Arts NSW) and Byron Council grant. This enabled BYT to create another stellar production which moved audience members to tears receiving standing ovations and overwhelming feedback.
From this production local young people and BYT members recognised a need for a social event for LGBT+ youth. Raani Jade Nichols and Lisa Apostolides secured a Byron Council Small Change grant as well as a Mental health Association NSW ( ACON sponsored) community grant and yet another donation from Stephen which enabled them to create the inaugural Northern Rivers FANCY FORMAL. Check out our events page for more details.
Northern NSW Youth Health Consultation – Ballina 2016
Further detail about the impact of mental health issues among young people is warranted as part of the NSW Youth Health Policy Consultation.
Mental health problems, alcohol use disorders and suicide and self-harm are the leading causes of burden of disease among young people in Australia.
American research has found that half of all anxiety, mood, impulse-control, and substance use disorders start by age 14 and three quarters by age 24.
Further detail about the impact of mental health issues among young people is warranted as part of the NSW Youth Health Policy Consultation.
Mental health problems, alcohol use disorders and suicide and self-harm are the leading causes of burden of disease among young people in Australia.
American research has found that half of all anxiety, mood, impulse-control, and substance use disorders start by age 14 and three quarters by age 24.
Further detail about the impact of mental health issues among young people is warranted as part of the NSW Youth Health Policy Consultation.
Mental health problems, alcohol use disorders and suicide and self-harm are the leading causes of burden of disease among young people in Australia.
American research has found that half of all anxiety, mood, impulse-control, and substance use disorders start by age 14 and three quarters by age 24.
Outspoken
Performers with disabilities find their voice in “OUTSPOKEN”
Byron Youth Theatre’s dynamic new production “Outspoken” will soon showcase the talents of six young people with disabilities in an innovative performance that explores themes of inclusion, belonging and identity.
Timed to coincide with Social Inclusion Week, “Outspoken” brings eighteen performers of all abilities together in a production incorporating dance, poetry, music and dramatic scenes.
Six of the performers in “Outspoken” have disabilities ranging from Down Syndrome and physical disability to partial hearing and partial sight. Byron Youth Theatre Director Lisa Apostolides has found innovative ways to incorporate all of her performers’ talents into the production through her collaboration with Michael Hennessy, the Artistic Director of SPRUNG Integrated Dance Theatre and sign language interpreter, Alison Toft.
In one scene, Alison interprets for Tallulah, a young performer with partial hearing. As Tallulah recites one of her poems entitled “The best of both worlds” Alison signs for and with Tallulah as she explores her relationship with friends in both the hearing and non hearing worlds.
In other scenes, performers like Jake, who is partially sighted, and Max and Tara, who have Down Syndrome, add live music and dance into the mix.
Director of Byron Youth Theatre, Lisa says that her experience of working with performers with disabilities has been “really wonderful and rewarding” and that it has been an amazing process to see young people express important issues in their lives through performance.
Raani Nichols, who is one of the regular performers from the Byron Youth Theatre, said that being in “Outspoken” has been “amazing” and “really positive”.
As Lisa says, “Outspoken is about breaking down barriers and finding a comfortable space to be in. I think for some people in the community they don’t know how to react or respond to people with disabilities and sometimes they’re afraid of saying the wrong thing or doing the wrong thing. When I was talking to Max [who has Down Syndrome] he said ‘why don’t people just ask’?”
“Outspoken” will be performed at The Drill Hall, Mullumbimby, NSW on Monday 30th November from 10am – 12pm.
This production has been made possible through FundAbility, a program funded by Northcott to support community projects that promote social inclusion for children and young people with disabilities. For more information see http://www.fundability.com.au.
