Revisiting The 'Awkward' Years

Remember when telling someone you liked them involved a huge game of Chinese whispers? Or having to hide your latest skin outbreak before the big school disco? For Ellen Steele and fellow members of Adelaide theatre company isthisyours?, these moments are all too familiar, and form the basis of their latest work, The Awkward Years. An “embarrassing rollercoaster party” that leads audiences back to their pubescent years, The Awkward Years is a fun representation of human growth with a heavy dose of nostalgia thrown in, both uplifting and mortifying.

“It all happens under the guise of a 20-minute teenage party, and within the context of that party, the audience is invited to go back and revisit some of the awkwardness, joy and pain of those pivotal years,” Steele explains.

Originally meeting at Flinders Drama Centre in 2006, Steele and her team have created four different shows that have been performed at the Adelaide Fringe, and they’re looking forward to debuting their latest work there once again. “Adelaide Fringe has always been a great testing ground for us developing new works. It’s such an excellent and lively time in the city, with people always willing to take on new theatre experiences, which is what were kind of interested in making. We took [2010 show] Best We Forget to Sydney and Brisbane, [which] was a great experience of creating a new work and continuing to push it with new audiences and cities, and last year we started to play with idea of making the audience part of the content and experience of the show.”

Steele says evolution is an important part of the creative process at isthisyours?, and while incorporating so much content into such a small amount of time for ˆ was an enjoyable experience, it was equally quite challenging. “Every time we make a new work we definitely try to continue to keep pushing some of the boundaries of our work, and this time it’s been about creating a fulfilling theatre experience within 20 minutes. That’s super short, so it’s been a really interesting process for us – how do you make a work and condense it into a time that the audience can get involved and engage with what the work is? Everyone has such iconic things from their teenage years and so it’s been really fun to try and condense them down into a new, kind of holistic experience for people from lots of generations.”

Wincing as she reflects on her own “awkward years”, Steele assures that the show will be something everyone will get something out of. “I remember some pretty gross club music and the ‘80s school films like Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club. Oh, and Lynx Africa!” she cringes. “It’s a party that’s going to make you feel some things you never thought you would. It’s not your average theatre experience [and] I think it’s going to be a great night for all.”