Shut Up

Dexter hasn't said a word for nearly a year. He's been kicked out of several schools, seen a barrage of doctors, been excluded by dozens of his peers. The kids call him a freak. The experts think he's a psychological anomaly. No one seems to have realised that maybe it isn't his silence that's the problem, but rather the hostile environment that drove him to silence in the first place. But even though 'Shut Up' offers a rather bleak look at adolescence, there is a sense of hope that radiates from the young actors and adds an unexpected dimension to the production. This is youth theatre with a shoestring budget, and while this can spell out disaster, this production treats it as an advantage – with kids in adult roles, it's a rare glimpse of teenagers' perspectives on what it means to be grown up. [Julie Balazs]