While HSC Drama enrolments collapse, this show is selling out. Because teenagers wrote it.
HSC Drama enrolments are down almost 19% in five years. So why did the first show of a season written entirely by teenagers sell out weeks in advance?
The Monologue Collective returns for its second season from 9 – 10 September at PHIVE Parramatta, presented by Riverside Live. Nine brand-new monologues, all written by teenagers, all built for HSC students’ individual drama performance.
The bet behind it is simple: teenagers show up for theatre when it’s actually about being a teenager. The 2021 season sold out twice. This one has already sold out its first show.
Creator Laneikka Denne, who launched the project at 19 years old, and is now 24 and on commission with Belvoir St Theatre, said:
“I couldn’t find a monologue written by someone under 30 about what life is actually like as a teenager, so I started writing them myself. Teenagers are anxious about politics, money, the future. Give them a stage for that, and they’ll fill the room.
Without opportunities like this, we risk raising a generation with no young artists and no theatre audience at all.”
The nine writers, aged 16 to 18, spent a week in an intensive at PYT Fairfield. They were mentored by industry names including Daley Rangi (Griffin Theatre Company), James Elazzi, Donna Abela, Malaika Mfalme and Jules Orcullo (Sydney Theatre Company).
Bernadette Fam, a former New Work Manager at Malthouse, has provided dramaturgy, while Ryan Whitworth-Jones has directed the pieces. The Australian Theatre For Young People (ATYP) are providing production support, while Create NSW and Riverside are funding the initiative. Australian Plays Transform has given every writer a subscription.
Past alumni have gone on to WAAPA and AFTRS. Nick Annas, a past Monologue Collective writer at 15 years old, has now written, directed and starred in his first feature film, Crash Out, at aged 20, alongside Joe Bird (Talk to Me) and Catherine Laga’aia (Moana).
The monologues will be published nationally by Playlab Australia and recorded by Australian Theatre Live on 9 September.
The Monologue Collective: Western Sydney Edition is presented by Riverside and We Are Not Producers, and runs 9 – 10 September at Riverside Parramatta.
Tickets are available here.
Website: http://riversideparramatta.com.au/whats-on/the-monologue-collective
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/themonologuecollective/
Hero image: Photo by Julius Koivistoinen
ABOUT THE MONOLOGUE COLLECTIVE
The Monologue Collective: Western Sydney Edition is the second series of a youth theatre program led by young Western Sydney playwright Laneikka Denne, where 9 Western Sydney teenagers develop 6-8 minute monologues for HSC Drama students to perform for their individual performance. The program is funded by Create NSW, Riverside Theatre in partnership with ATYP, with support from Australian Theatre Live, published by Play Lab Australia.
ABOUT THE SHOW
The Monologue Collective: Western Sydney Edition is funded by Create NSW, Riverside Theatre in partnership with ATYP, with support from Australian Theatre Live, published by Play Lab Australia. Produced by We Are Not Producers.
WRITERS
Amna Ahmed (16), Aynie Lane (17), Arabella Marisol Chavez Palpan (16), Jack Fitzpatrick (18), Khalia Chavaria (17), Maysaa Maghchouch (16), Prab Juneja (18), Raine Osborne (17) and Reva Shinde (16).
DIRECTOR Ryan Whitworth-Jones DRAMATURG Bernadette Fam PRODUCER We Are Not Producers ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Mina Asfour PRODUCTION DESIGNER Ruby Jenkins SOUND DESIGNER Carol Gonzales
CAST
Lilian Alejandra Valverde
Seth Rafael Barrun
Karrine Kanaan
