by Amy Toledano

Unlike a lot of shows about a young person’s first time, The Act is a show completely created and performed by teenagers. This wonderfully honest piece has a real sense of understanding and openness.

The Yard Theatre is the perfect venue for such a show, allowing the cast to do what they seem to do best – play and explore freely, with their energy being felt in every single corner of the room and buzzing throughout the duration of the show. Each cast member is completely individual and allows their ideas and voices to shine through.

Using a huge set of clothing racks filled to their brims with different costume pieces that the cast constantly change into, the performers show there are so many young people dealing with these tiny battles and issues every single day, and each and everyone deserves to be heard. Slick choreography allows them to glide around the stage and create different settings and atmospheres easily and smoothly.

Each “scene” is more of a vignette or a new thought, and we as an audience are allowed the privilege to see into the secret world of teens and young adults. They take us into our own memories and force us to look at the way we dealt with growing up, and if we embraced the changes instead of living in fear of them.

The Act ends in a ballet/contemporary movement exercise in which the we see the cast expressing themselves using their bodies, and their adrenaline draws the audience in and leaves us feeling elated and hopeful for a world more open and loving.

The Act runs through 2 August.

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