Photo Flash: In Rehearsal for THE ACT By Company Three At The Yard Theatre

The Yard Theatre welcome back the award-winning Company Three with The Act directed by James Blakey, a show about teenage sex, love and intimacy, made by teenagers.

Winner of the Dan Crawford Award for Innovation at the 2017 Peter Brook Empty Space Awards, Company Three make theatre through long-term, intensive collaboration between their 75 members aged 11-19 and professional theatre-makers. They presented a sharing of The Act in 2017 as part of First Drafts, The Yard's festival of early stage work:

Their work has also been seen at the Royal Albert Hall, Battersea Arts Centre and on Channel 4 and the BBC. There will be no official press night, but press are invited to attend across the run.

Give her a cheeky smile, let her know you're interested-
You need to catch her eye, you know flirtatious stuff?
You need to be a little bit vulnerable-
Be confident.
Show her your soft side-
But you don't wanna be too vulnerable. You don't wanna be too soft-
Pretend they're the only one-
Because then they'll feel special.

The Act is about love between teenagers. It's about how you think we look together. The way things feel, the first time you feel them.

It is awkward, funny, terrifying. It is excruciating anticipation...

Expect unplanned connections, live play, and to feel some feelings for the first time (again).

Company Three's Artistic Director Ned Glasier: "The Act is a play born out of the kind of opportunities that makes The Yard such a brilliant place to work. It could only have been made by a group of brave, risk-taking teenagers, led by two of our long term associates James Blakey and Charlie Damigos, and by a company that have developed their relationships as part of Company Three for almost a decade. They're now ready to put those relationships in front of an audience, and I can't think of a better stage to do it on."

Company Three member Ellie Benmore, 18: "The Act puts feeling back in. It exposes the uncomfortable emotions that adults don't really want to know about teenagers. We're at that age where you're not a child anymore but also not quite an adult... It's an ice breaker. Now we've shown you this, you can tell us about your experiences."

The Yard's Artistic Director Jay Miller: "When Company Three shared The Act last summer we left the theatre feeling changed. We remembered the electricity of our first loves, first touches, first experiences. We remembered it in our body as well as in our minds. Company Three don't tell you what it's like to be a teenager, they take you back there, and you feel everything for the first time all over again. It's totally magical."

Photography by Camilla Greenhill

 

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