Overview
You don't truly realise how parental and limiting adult writers can be towards children until you've seen the works of Belgian youth theatre group Ontroerend Goed. Their self-devised pieces are anarchic, freeform, funny, dramatic, frequently loud and generally unpredictable. The seminal Once And For All We're Gonna Tell You Who We Are So Shut Up And Listen has now spiralled out into a trilogy that somewhat progresses through the stages of youth.
Melbourne Festival 2013 gets the later, angstier chapters. Teenage Riot has eight teenagers trapped in a room inflict twisted games on each other, and recording it on camera, while All That Is Wrong has single writer/performer Anna Jakoba Ryckewaert, 18, undertake a more introspective coming-of-age — what Melbourne Festival are calling "a final, poignant dispatch from the consuming borderland between youth and adulthood".
Teenage Riot will be at the Arts Centre during the Melbourne Festival from October 15-20. Thanks to the Melbourne Festival, we have a double pass to give away for opening night. To be in the running, subscribe to the Concrete Playground newsletter (if you haven't already), then email win.melbourne@concreteplayground.com.au with your name and address.