Punk Rock: perfect cast chosen
Finding the perfect cast is always a long shot but TheatreiNQ artistic director Terri Brabon has found the ideal mix for Punk Rock which opens on June 12.
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Finding the perfect cast is always a long shot but TheatreiNQ artistic director Terri Brabon has found the ideal mix for Punk Rock which opens on June 12.
The play, written by acclaimed British playwright Simon Stephens and directed by Brabon, is set in a prestigious Manchester Grammar school and focuses on how students on the cusp of graduation face the pressures of uncertain futures in an ever-changing world.
The play was selected by Brabon to feature the talents of TheatreiNq’s current Bridge Project students and is a production she has been wanting to produce for nearly 15 years.
The company’s successful Bridge Project is its training division aiming to guide regional performers towards a career in the professional industry.
“I have been in love with this script for many, many years and part of the Bridge Project training scene studies - I have always used this play.
“So every single student across the Bridge Project for the last 14 years have has touched on this play, but I’ve never had the perfect cast ingredients.
“It just so happens that this year, it was my lucky, lucky draw, and I thought instantly of this play that I wanted to do forever. So that was why I did it.
“The reason that the script really appeals to me is because it is universal. The pressures of senior students in Manchester at a rich Grammar School are still the same pressures of a normal child and student here in Townsville. They are still the pressures of the world.
“The things that are going on the world that surrounds them, the mental health issues that the kids face, the stress that’s put onto them for the these exams and the future, their despair at the future.
“All of these things are still prevalent all across the world.
“I loved the story. I thought it spoke to my understanding of what young people are facing in the world today and the stresses that they’re under.
“I thought it would be a really, really great challenge for the members of the Bridge Project but also one that they could really connect with and give them a really good chance of doing a stellar job.
“Which they are 100 per cent - I’m so proud of them already.
“They are literally the hardest working kids in showbiz at the moment and it’s amazing, this play will blow your mind literally.”
Brabon said the play was a challenging and evocative drama for both the performers and the audience.
“It has all the elements of your teenage years. There are romances. There are friendships but there are also the pressures there also, the conversations about your parents and wanting to know what sort of world are you growing up to be an adult in?
“What do you want to be when you grew up - all those questions.
“I find that as an adult really interesting to get into the minds of these young people and know those are pressures that we didn’t have.
“I didn’t grow up in a world that asked me to know what I wanted to be when I grew up when I was 12 and I also didn’t grow up in a world where I had the world at my fingertips and I also didn’t grow up in a world where I couldn’t go into my bedroom and escape the entire world.
“They take these mobile phones and these, the internet means that the world is with them.
“The school environment is with them. 24/7 - they can’t escape that.
“But also there’s a there’s a character in the play who was who is really struggling with her mental health and that is becoming more and more prevalent with our young people.
“It’s very challenging piece to watch. I won’t lie but it’s very deeply moving.”
She thinks it is a production that should be seen by both current students and their parents.
“I absolutely think it’s for parents. I actually absolutely think it’s for young people as well to see themselves and to know that their stories are being heard and listened to and shared.
“But also school groups it is a challenging piece so we are saying it’s 15.
“Plus, because there are language, the teenagers use foul language, and these are real teenagers and they use foul language and they discuss some hot topics.
“But I’m encouraging school senior groups to come, I’m encouraging teachers to come and I’m encouraging parents to come and anyone who has anything to do with young people to develop a deeper understanding of this divide between generations at the moment.”
She said it was extremely difficult to find a play just for the company’s Bridge Project students to perform.
“It’s once in a blue moon really that these kinds of plays are written that are so strong for young actors.
“I’ve always, whenever I find one, I’ve got it in my back pocket ready to pounce whenever I get the opportunity with the right cast.
“That’s when you really have to just like take that opportunity and go for it because it doesn’t come along every year.
“It just so happens that this current group of Bridges are really strong, and I’m really proud of them.
“They are doing their own show, not having an experienced actor come on stage every 10 minutes or so,
“I would never serve up anything less than a theatre standard. They know that they have to live up to that and that’s why they’re working so hard.”
Brabon said she had a small part in the play herself.
“Just a very, very small part. They normally have small parts to my leading roles, so this has been really lovely to be in service to them as an actor on stage as well.”
PUNKROCK runs at the Clubhouse in Hyde Park from June 12 to June 29 and to book go to theatreinq.com/punkrock-2024
Originally published as Punk Rock: perfect cast chosen
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