Tweenage Wasteland
Written by TMS Director of Creative Development & Mentor, Eric Webb
Hello, TheaterMakers!
A combination of my wife currently being knee deep in tech for a high school production of The Addams Family Young@Part and a conversation with a Mentorship program member about being drawn to an organization dedicated to TYA (Theater for Young Audiences) has got me thinking about the youths.
And it occurs to me that, as usual, our tweens are suffering in limbo. An artistic limbo.
See, Disney largely has things covered with the little ones who might want to perform. They have the KIDS and JR. versions of nearly every possible title, and programs cram as many kids into the show as possible, often completely divorced from any sense of cultural sensitivity in their casting (hello, Moana JR.). Kids are happy because they know the IP and can scream Let It Go at the top of their lungs. Parents are happy because the show is 30 minutes.
Teens are largely covered. Depending on your area, high schools often have plenty of productions of various quality, and there’s also often community theater options that they are now old enough to participate in in a meaningful fashion. There are some shows that are geared specifically toward teen performers now, but (as my ill-fated freshman year of high school production of Hair will attest) teens more often than not want to reach higher than their perceived age group. They want to do the RENTs and the Dear Evan Hansens and the Mamma Mia!s… even if they sorely lack the life experience typically required to breath any legitimacy into the roles (but god knows they are earnest).
But what about the tweens?
They’re too cool to be a starfish in The Little Mermaid JR. again but don’t have the chops to play Elphaba… So what’s to be done?
That’s where we, the creators, have an opportunity to step in and serve an under-represented community of artists. There are engaging stories to be told that don’t baby the performers, but also don’t present a Sisyphean labor to perform. Productions that allow early career artists the chance to stretch into something unique, but without setting them up to fail.
It’s a tough line to toe, I know. I wrote an anti-bullying musical for tween performers and audiences (#JustBeYou, with composer Stephanie Bianchi, to toot my own horn) and it was a constant battle of “is this joke too far over their head?” “are these harmonies too complex?” “are we talking down to them?”
It took time, it took workshopping, it took listening to the performers… but boy howdy was it an amazing moment when it all took shape. Younger performers getting to create new roles, performing material built specifically for their voices and worldviews…
And hey, maybe you think the kids are alright.
So then what community around you isn’t being served? How can you help?
Because it’s not just about the performers, it’s also about the audiences and the artform’s future.
Giving performers material they care about will make them passionate about the work. Giving audiences material they resonate with will make them passionate about showing up. The rising tide lifts all the boats…
And lord knows we need something uplifting.
