A play about teenage pregnancy that started out as a ŻiguŻajg festival show has been picked up to tour 11 schools. The result was a wake-up call that it is high time we challenge our young audiences and young people in general. Veronica Stivala learns more about the #babydaddy tour.

Last year, hundreds of teenagers flocked to see #babydaddy, a play for and about teenagers. The play didn’t shy away from its difficult topic, teenage pregnancy and presented a very real scenario. The young dialogue was fresh, the texting and social media messaging true to life and even the adults’ characters were realistic and at times funny. “What’s a hashtag?” asks the dad at one point.

The above and more were some of the reasons why the play was picked up by Aġenzija Żgħażagħ to tour local schools this year. Written by Simone Spiteri for Studio 18 and ŻiguŻajg International Arts Festival, #babydaddy debuted at the 2014 edition of ŻiguŻajg. This year, it played again during recent weeks, travelling to 11 schools to be seen by some 1,200 students as part of a join initiative between Aġenzija Żgħażagħ, the Education Ministry and Spazju Kreattiv.

This is not the first time Aġenzija Żgħażagħ has worked with the festival. In fact, it has been collaborating with it since its inception because it believes so strongly in its power to positive influence. “We believe that theatre and young people’s experience of theatre is an important aspect of civic and cultural life,” says Aġenzija Żgħażagħ CEO Miriam Teuma.

“For young people, in particular, theatre can open up a new way of looking at the world and give substance and meaning to their own experiences,” she says.

#babydaddy struck home because its themes are directly linked to issues that confront young people in their everyday life and present everyday situations to which they can directly relate.

The fact that the issues were tackled in a play was the selling point. “Theatre provides a safe and inclusive environment in which young people can experience imagined representations of real life problems and situations which in turn enables them to better cope emotionally and intellectually with such problems and situations,” Miriam points out.

What was special about this project was that it was developed specifically to involve young people. The play took life not just as the actors brought the script to life, but by its teenage audiences who watched and then discussed its themes, issues and creative elements.

Miriam stresses the importance of this being an outreach programme: “Young people do not go, or are brought, to the theatre: theatre goes out to them.” She goes one step further to note how such participation and outreach projects have important implications for education and culture, as “they challenge ideas and practices of exclusion and exclusivity”.

The play struck home because it’s themes are linked to everyday issues.

The idea for the touring project was to engage young people in discussion after the performance, so that they would continue processing their thoughts, expectations, challenges and fears.

Speaking about students’ reactions, Miriam says this appears to have been both positive and enthusiastic. “You could see young people fidgeting or young people sitting still without moving,” she says. These were the reactions they were looking for. “They are the keys to engage us in a process which does not happen frequently in schools.” Teachers and youth workers then used the way students reacted to take up a number of issues raised in the play.

Theatre provides a safe and inclusive environment in which young people can experience imagined representations of real life problems

To this, director Jean Marc Cafà adds how enlightening performing for these audiences has been. “We underestimate our younger audiences; they don’t miss a beat, they latch onto every detail and their approach in general is mature,” he says. He goes on to add how the vast majority of students have commented on how real the play feels – the setting and language feel like their own.

Most feel they wish to reach out to the underdog and they also relate to the child-parent chemistry. Jean Marc says how a number of students went up to the actors to speak to them after a performance, some entirely fascinated. Miriam confides how, while the response has been generally positive and supportive, some aspects of the play have proved controversial to some teachers – they had a few educators who were concerned about the use of ‘language’ – language which had been carefully assessed and woven into the text.

Faced with this reaction, Jean Marc says that our understanding of theatre still needs to mature. “We have a long way to go with respect to understanding the different functions of theatre and it is high time we begin to dig deeper, as opposed to taking representations literally.”

But getting people’s attention is the first step and they are definitely on the right track there: the #babydaddy tour was fully-booked, with a waiting list within days of the tour being announced.

This successful project is just one of many similar collaborations and the future looks bright. This summer, the Ministry for Education and Employment launched the National Youth Policy – Towards 2020. The policy focuses on cross-sectoral support for young people in areas such as education and training, employment and entrepreneurship, health and well-being, arts and culture, social inclusion, volunteering and community and sport and recreation.

“This provides all of us with a clear strategy and achievable goals and I am confident that, working together, we can make a real and positive difference to the lives of young people, their families and communities,” says Miriam.

Performing in schools as opposed to in a theatre is, in Jean Marc’s words, “a tough nut to crack”. But, he continues, “it keeps the performance fresh because the team is always on its toes – there is never a dull moment”.

And that is certain. Among unexpected things the team had to deal with were a light rig blowing up half way through a show, a sound system failing them, a projector with a mind of its own, vans taking the cast to the wrong schools and no time for technical rehearsals or proper spacing in each venue.

What would Jean Marc say is the relevance of #babydaddy’s message to our national educational and cultural programmes? “Theatre can appeal to everyone, most certainly to teenagers and can serve as a means of reflection. The piece touches upon many topics tackled in personal and social education, while exposing students to theatre and new writing.

“This project has also taught us a very valuable lesson – it is high time we challenge our young audiences and young people in general, because they definitely have the potential to rise to the occasion.”