Youth Commentary
Posted by Maria Maia on 11/10/2008
When you think of the last warm Saturday afternoon of the year, the first thought that comes to mind isn’t 40 teens seeing a piece of theatre Steppenwolf. However, that was exactly the scene at the Steppenwolf for Young Adult’s MaTEENe performance of The Glass Menagerie. Who knew Tom, Laura, Amanda and the Gentleman Caller could still inspire my generation?
Being a member of the Young Adult Council here at Steppenwolf, I’ve witnessed many MaTEENes. These are Saturday afternoon performances hosted by the Council, during which students can come see a Steppenwolf show for $15, meet other high school students interested in theatre and stay afterward for lunch, discussion and theatre exercises with the play’s actors. I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly. Well, maybe not bad or ugly per se, but like any other program, we’ve had our ups and downs. But by far this was the best MaTEENe Steppenwolf has ever seen. We had 40 young adults from 12 different schools and all walks of life together to discuss the brilliance of the production. There is nothing like a room full of driven teens “re-imagining the American dream” – the theme of this year’s Steppenwolf for Young Adults season. At first, we tested the waters with a short post-show in the main theatre and then moved over to the Garage Theatre with all the MaTEENe participants to dive even deeper into our questions with the actors and director (ensemble member Yasen Peyankov). We’re not talking about a light conversation about how the costumes looked really cool under the lights (which they did), but rather an in-in-depth discussion on the development of character and relationship, that resonated with and obviously moved our ever so “angst possessed” teen audience.
I must admit that I was both surprised and proud of the dialogue I heard that day. Safyia, a fellow Young Adult Council member, and I lead the MaTEENe post-show. At first we were a bit worried that we would have to really push the conversation along. To our relief, seconds after the first question was uttered we had lift off. There was never an awkward silence, or a moment when the dialogue was lacking. Everybody was in sync and feeding off the energy and ideas that were flying through the air. Being a young adult myself, I understand the pull towards the mainstream media of movies and shopping on a beautiful Saturday, but these 40 teens skipped the day at the mall and led, learned and collaborated around The Glass Menagerie. I just hope that this Saturday inspires them to do it more often. Youth commentary, in my opinion, is the most important to listen to. But then again, I’m pretty biased.