About the Collection
Shopfront Arts Co-Op stands as Sydney’s only cross-art form organisation led by and dedicated to the artistry of Young People. For over four decades, Shopfront has amplified the voices of Young People. Supported by practising, professional artists, Shopfront supports Young People in bold and ambitious works of creative expression.
APT is enormously excited to be partnering with Shopfront to publish the back catalogue of years of Young People’s creative works. From silly to serious and everything in between, these shows were joyously created with young people at the forefront and we are thrilled to give them new life through the APT catalogue.
Stay tuned for more scripts coming soon, and head over to Shopfront’s website to keep up to date on their amazing work with Young People.
Scripts
The Lies We Were Told
by Shopfront Arts Co-Op and Monkey Baa co-production.
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!
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.
Form/Style: adventure, comedy, contemporary, ensemble, epic, large cast, monologue and/or audition pieces, non-linear, one-act, political, presentational, satire, spectacle, storytelling, theatre for, by or about young people, verbatim and/or documentary theatre
Themes: young people, queer, women, sustainability, survival, sexuality, self-acceptance, rites of passage/transition, resilience, power, political/social, moral dilemma, memory, mental health, love, lgbtqia+, inventiveness, inclusion, identity, hope, growing up, gender, friendship, feminism, family, community, courage, coming of age, climate change, change, bullying, belonging, alienation, adolescence
Length in minutes: 70
Cast: 13 total
Cast age groups: 8 to 12, 12 to 16, 16 to 18
Roles: 13 gender unspecified
Audience age: all ages
STOP. DROP. AND LISTEN.
by Shopfront Arts Co-Op’s Senior Ensemble 2023, with Lily Hayman & Hayden Tonazzi
Some stories are too big for just one person. Some stories need to be finished together… and some stories are like nothing you’ve ever heard before. Featuring villainous French chef’s, a forbidden fungus, magic powers and wise old turtles, Stop. Drop. And Listen is one of those stories.
Join Shopfront’s Senior Ensemble (2023) for an adventure that takes aim at the big impossible problems we all have to face, exploring what we do when things go terribly wrong and how to find all the right answers in the end.
Form/Style: adventure, chorus, comedy, community authored, drama, ensemble, fable, farce, large cast, one-act, theatre for, by or about young people
Themes: young people, inventiveness, inclusion, hope, growing up, community, coming of age, change, belonging, adolescence
Length in minutes: 65
Cast: 11 total
Cast age groups: 12 to 16, 16 to 18
Roles: 11 gender unspecified
Audience age: all ages
Teen Angst
by Shopfront Arts Co-Op’s Senior Ensemble 2022, with Lucy Heffernan
You’re tearing me apart! A new musical about the pains of youth and finding your voice. Turning #relatablecontent into show stopping musical numbers, this devised work will shine a spotlight (literally) onto the issues, passions, fears and dreams of today’s young people.
Everybody has a story to share and everybody has a song to sing.
What’s yours?
Form/Style: contemporary, ensemble, musical, non-linear, theatre for, by or about young people
Themes: young people, self-acceptance, resilience, mental health, love, lgbtqia+, inventiveness, inclusion, identity, hope, growing up, friendship, fear, family, crime, community, courage, coming of age, change, bullying, belonging, alienation, adolescence
Length in minutes: 50
Cast: 4 total
Cast age groups: 12 to 16, 16 to 18
Roles: 4 gender unspecified
Audience age: teen, young adult, adult
Mums Tell Dad Jokes Too
by Shopfront Arts Co-Op’s Junior Ensemble 2022, with Tasha O’Brien and Nicole Pingon
What do you want to be when you grow up? What about your Mum and Dad?
What’s the funniest thing you’ve ever heard?
From letters to our future selves to what do adults even do?! A secret Dad’s club, a protest and a live game show. 2022’s Junior Ensemble investigates what life is really like.
Oh. And there will be jokes. Lots of them.
But maybe not good ones…
Form/Style: abstract/non-naturalistic, absurdist, children’s theatre, chorus, comedy, contemporary, cross artform, community authored, ensemble, satire, theatre for, by or about young people
Themes: young people, women, self-acceptance, masculinity, love, inventiveness, identity, hope, growing up, friendship, feminism, family, community, courage, coming of age, change, belonging, aging, adolescence
Length in minutes: 45
Cast: 13 total
Cast age groups: 8 to 16
Roles: 13 gender unspecified
Audience age: all ages
