Issue brought to light

After a string of successful shows in 2015, Black Swan Theatre Company’s educational and engaging production,Shadowboxing, is hitting the road for another season.

Touring 17 metropolitan schools and regional communities, the performance and its associated artist-run workshops will reach Bunbury on August 3.

Directed by National Institute of Dramatic Art graduate and Black Swan associate director Jeffrey Jay Fowler, the production is aimed at children in Year 7 to 12 and explores the dark side of what happens when we define ourselves by the opinions of others online.

“It covers areas of the internet you should or shouldn’t go to and how to form meaningful relationships on the internet and be able to take them into the real world,” he said.

“There is a generation growing up whose parents didn’t have the internet and so for them to have discussions about things online can be problematic.

“There are some pretty heavy elements in the play, and many students may be dealing with issues but don’t want to speak about them.”

Created, written and performed by Perth’s Ella Hetherington and featuring fellow actor Brendan Ewing, the play follows the story of Benj and Cat who get lost in the strange world of Shadow.

While there Benj feels like he is free to be another version of himself, making friends with Cat’s alter-ego Idgy, however he is soon left to wonder how he can have his ‘Shadow’ friendship out in the real world.

Over its two-year run the show has been seen by about 2900 students and Fowler said they had “incredibly positive feedback”.

“We’ve been invited back to a number of the schools they liked it so much,” he said.

“Something just clicks with people, even teachers and parents enjoy it and we’ve made a few students cry they connected with it that much.”

Fowler said he was drawn to the production because he loved working on new plays, supporting playwrights and rebuilding the theatre scene in Western Australia.

“I think Ella’s style is really interesting and I liked the content and the fact she wanted to create a play for young adults,” he said.

“We wanted to create a show for young people that wasn’t condescending and was something more complex.

“From the outset we wanted to stray away from the ‘stranger danger’ tag and focus on how your presence online can impact other people.”

Black Swan Theatre’s general manager Natalie Jenkins said the production was a great way for community members to access live theatre and experience professional artist-run workshops.

“These activities provide a unique approach to learning that improves confidence and develops essential social and literacy skills,” she said.

Shadowboxing is a free performance and will be held at The South West Italian Club next Wednesday at 11am.