So, I had a dream that I wrote a blog that listed all the great things and the not so great things about deciding to create a theatre company for young people. Therefore... I decided to make this dream a reality; because how often do we get to do that?!
First let me say, before I get a backlash of people complaining that I am stereotyping young people, my intention with this blog is to share my experiences.
I have always enjoyed working with young people. I used to attend a youth club and summer activity club and as soon as I turned 16 I became a leader of both. If you look through my CV I would say 90% of jobs have been working with children and young people. I should say that I count young people to mean anyone aged 16-25. It wasn't until I started to lead young people with my own company that I realised I still had a lot of lessons to learn. Below are my top Five things I didn't realise or had to learn to about working with young people.
1) Know that you are in charge. Being only 24 myself, and 21 when I started the theatre company (the first show was the day after my 22nd birthday) I found it difficult to assert dominance through the first show. I do not have a lot of confidence in myself and I kept second guessing and worrying that the cast members didn't like me. I would go to rehearsal with cakes in the hope to gain favour and I would leave every rehearsal panicking that I wasn't doing a good enough job. When I posted news about the second show auditions and all except a couple of the cast came along and brought friends along with them I knew that I must have done something right. I left all my self doubt behind at this point and concentrated on being a good director. As the director the cast are not your friends they cannot be bought with cake and they most certainly will not respect you when you need to be hard on them if you don't assert your authority.
2) Don't treat them like kids. I have always maintained that the young people within any cast should take ownership of their performance and understand their position and value within the team. This does not mean that every young person that comes wants to take the show seriously. At every audition and at the start of the first rehearsal. I introduce myself and give a brief history of the theatre company (because let's be honest the history is very brief). I then give them a talk about why Oddbox Theatre is different: I explain that I work with young people but that in no way means that this is a youth theatre. It is a theatre company for young adults to work on different types of theatre. When you stand on stage I don't want the fact that you're "young" to be an excuse for poor theatre. We are a team and if one person doesn't treat the project with professionalism then the rest of the team will suffer. I have been so impressed with so many of the young people that have been involved in Oddbox and how, when given the opportunity, they respond so positively from being treated like adults rather than school children. One actor invited me to his college production a few months ago and when I spoke to his teacher she expressed that he acted up in class and to be honest seemed to be just another teenage boy in her class. This young man has been involved in a number of our shows and pushes himself to be the best he can. Yes, he's slow at learning lines, but he asks for help and the other young professionals help and support him. Giving these teenagers the chance to be treated like adults is something I will always do.
However, this does lead onto point three...
3) Not everyone that walks through the door wants to be treated like an adult. It makes me so sad when a real talent walks through the door and they let the group down. Maybe sometimes I forget that they are teenagers and this is something I have had to learn. With any show be it adults or young people there is always the risk that, between audition and performance, an actor could suffer from illness or some other ailment which prevents them from performing. However, the age of our actors does mean that they may not understand the true commitement they've made by joining the cast or the correct way to resign and that burying your head in the sand does not mean things blow over. Throughout the last couple of years there are members of the group I have had to stop inviting young people to auditions because they have let us down at the last minute on more than one occasion.
4) Be prepared to repeat information... a lot.. if there's one frustration about working with young people that I didn't predict it's their inability to found out information for themselves. I can send weekly emails and put information on the Facebook group, which I make for every production, and guarantee I will still receive a text asking me to relay information. Even saying "Please reply to this email", well, I was silly to even assume that might work. I used to get frustrated about it all because, well, it is REALLY annoying having to email, facebook and text the same information, but I think I've come to realise that with exams, college, part time jobs and family commitments these teenagers will always be asking. Also, the asking means they're committed and excited and that's all I can ask.
5) Embrace every second - You're guaranteed to meet and influence some stars. I love working with young people, because the determination to be somebody is a wonderful thing you rarely find outside of the 16-25 year age group. Their enthusiasm to be treated like an adult, to mature and show what they're made of is what I've found of most of those who have walked through the door. Some who are lucky enough, and brave enough, to know that they want to go onto professionally perform have done so and I am so proud that OddBox theatre has been a part of their progression. Understanding the reason that the individual has walked through the door to the audition or workshop is your job to identify and then tailoring their experience to ensure that they gain everything they can is a responsibility that is entirely yours.
So there you have it - the top Five things I learnt about working with young people in my theatre company.
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