Next Gen Yells ‘Yo’ to Their Future

Media release: For Immediate Release

Next Gen Yells ‘Yo’ to Their Future

Yo Future by Barbarian Productions

“A dynamic and exciting piece of theatre that captures well the underlying unease of our times… an imagination of what everybody knows but chooses to ignore.”
– Laurie Atkinson, The Dominion Post.

Twenty-odd diverse young Auckland performers. One award-winning theatre-maker. Add some inter-generational tension, an election, and a planet on the verge of collapse and you get Yo Future – a radical hybrid of contemporary clowning and choral choreography; funny, anarchic and totally original from 16 – 25 October at TAPAC, Auckland.

Auckland marks Yo Future’s third outing for 2014. The localised piece has already presented in Hamilton and Invercargill this year, right off the back of successful seasons in the Wairarapa in 2013 and its premiere in Wellington in 2011.

With a handpicked group of Aucklanders of the millennial generation (born after 1984), Jo Randerson of Barbarian Productions investigates their view of the future, their fears and fascinations.

What does the world look like to you? What matters most?
What stereotypes are there of young people? What would you fight for?

From Shortland Street nurses to models to Youtube hits, the Auckland cast promises to be one of the most intriguing yet. Within the group there’s already much discussion on what is important for Auckland’s future including public transport, population growth, the performing arts and the impending zombie apocalypse…

Director Jo Randerson has developed a unique creative process collaborationg with a cross-section of younger performers – a testament to her skills as an internationally renowned artist in partnership with communities across visual arts, theatre and dance.

From France, Norway, Belgium, UK and Australia to all corners of New Zealand, she has presented her strong brand of bastardised clown - creating works that look as much like dance as theatre, yet unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.

Randerson’s collaboration, HULLAPOLLOI (with Kate McIntosh and Footnote Dance), won best of the Dunedin Fringe 2011 where it was described as an “endlessly watchable sequence of ludic explorations.” – J.W Marshall, Theatreview. Randerson is currently working on a pop-up hair salon in Wellington which do politician themed haircuts with coffee (a Helen Clark, anybody?).

“Yo Future has been different in every place we have performed it,” says director Jo Randerson. “Although there is a skeleton for the show, it changes as different performers inhabit the piece. In Invercargill there was an emphasis on musical theatre which is a strong tradition there, in Hamilton we played outside, in the Wairarapa we had younger performers as the seniors were in exams. In Auckland we will have a totally new cast who will bring their unique energies to the piece - exciting.”

Come and see what the future has in store!

‘Well-wrought, compelling and salutary.’ - John Smythe, Theatreview

Yo Future plays
Dates: 16th – 19th October and 23rd – 25th October
Venue: TAPAC, 100 Motions Road, Western Springs, Auckland
Tickets: $15 - $25 or Family $60.00
Bookings: www.tapac.org.nz // 09 845 0295 ext 1
Duration: approx. 60 minutes

© Scoop Media