Once And For All We're Gonna Tell You Who We Are So Shut Up And Listen

The reason why all adults despise teenagers is announced: we just can’t stand to look at them and remember that we’re old; that we’re never going to be so free again; that our time to choose our path in life is over and that we’re stuck with the decisions we made when we didn’t know any better. But this young Belgian company, winners of a 2007 Fringe First Award, haven’t even started to tell you who they are yet. With a perfectly choreographed performance, often veering towards dance, the spoken word will be made impressively redundant as their message is unfurled.

13 teenagers spiral into a room and enact the messy, everyday responsibilities of adolescent life: a pair of lads hit each other with balloons, a young girl flirts with an older boy whilst others remain quiet and involved. But what at first sight seems a random collection of improvisations is revealed to be a meticulously composed manoeuvre as the entire scene is swept away and re-enacted perfectly.

Further iterations subvert the original display to show the teenagers behaving as their elders would wish them to: prim, proper, going through the motions. An attempt to again perform the scene but this time freely—allowing their hormones to take them where they will—is cut short when intimacy is deemed excessive, leaving the cast scattered and confused.

As subtle storylines are introduced through monologues, raging passions and jealous thoughts are excavated from beneath the surface. A final plea to allow the younger generation the freedom to repeat mistakes already made culminates in a hedonistic expression of emotions that have probably long run dry in most of the audience.

Whilst acted confidently, the performance could benefit from a more generous appreciation of the personalities of the young actors – several of the teenagers are required to become characters that, physically, are clearly out of their reach. Furthermore, as is the case in so much youth theatre, a few more male actors would create more balance in the plot. However, with a pertinent reminder of the importance of individual experience at its core, this dramatic and arresting performance is another triumph for new writing.