Description

Conceived and created by a fiery group of teenagers, The Lies We Were Told is an insight into what it’s like to grow up in society obsessed with fiction and what it takes to figure out the facts.

From little white lies about the tooth fairy to the big, trickier ones about gender norms, heteronormativity and queerness, this fresh Australian play unpacks how society places us in a box from day dot. With stories about the hopes and dreams of young people, this is a bold exploration of what it’s like to be a teenager living in Australia today.

“You don’t stop laughing because you grow older. You grow older because you stop laughing.” Maurice Chevalier-
We grow up being lied to. Often for good reasons – so we can believe in something magical, to believe we can be whoever we want to be, or to shield us from pain. This is about those moments. When a lie is revealed and the truth is learnt and in that moment something is discovered, something that will change you forever, something that cannot be unlearnt. From global conspiracies to childhood memories to the most personal moments of all. This is how we grow up. This is life!

Following their critically acclaimed partnership on 2017’s Dignity of Risk, ATYP and Shopfront Arts Co-op join forces once again to premiere The Lies We Were Told. An ensemble of young people aged 8-18 will share personal stories and verbatim texts, investigating the moments when it felt like you grew up in one day, or one hour, or one minute and nothing would ever be the same again.