Youth DramaFest'99 Summation

I hope to get around to posting some of my remarks on each of the individual productions later tonight. In the meantime here is a precis of my closing summation of the Youth component of DramaFest '99. (Like anyone really cares!) It does include a couple of things i passed over mentioning on Monday.This was an astonishing weekend. One that had some more senior (less junior) thespians seriously contemplating pottery as a hobby. The youth performances were remarkable for both their quality and abundance. This year we saw 9 plays entered in an expanded youth section and several others were waiting in the wings should one company have been unable to perform. A further five youth productions made appearances at the Bunbury Festival but were not entered in DramaFest '99.The ITA committee will need to consider how it might accommodate the depth of interest in a youth festival demonstrated by these participants. Should the participation double again next year, an entirely separate festival held on its own weekend will be required in order to provide these young people with the opportunities they need and so clearly deserve.The current wide age range will present some challenge for festival organisers next year. Is it reasonable or sensible to pit primary school students up against young adults, that have clearly left school behind, in any sort of competition? While it is possible to adjudicate the productions making allowance for such differences, and on this occasion the two youngest companies produced some of the most entertaining work, it makes sense to provide opportunities for them to compete against their peers in their age range.The range of material presented presented its own challenges. I commend the ITA for not seeking for a moment to censor the choice of a company of young adults who chose a challenging play liberally sprinkled with extremes of the Australian vernacular. It might have been easy for the committee to label the material "inappropriate for a youth festival" - especially given the number of primary aged children likely to be in attendance. However, it was far more sensible to provide a warning to the parents and other adults in the audience that they should leave if they are likely to be concerned by coarse language.Finally, i can't help but recollect the comments made by Jenny MacNae on the opening night of the festival with respect to the state of our professional theatre industry (sorry Jenny!) since Effies' was forced to cancel the remainder of its season. I've seen some very talented young performers on stage this weekend who i am sure would like to be looking to careers in the performing arts. What a terrible shame that they will have to leave Perth to do so. Effie Crump provided nearly half the professional opportunities for theatre actors in Western Australia, with its demise the already meagre chance for these young people to find employment in their career of choice has been halved.Thank you very much for the opportunity and the honour of being asked to adjudicate the youth section of DramaFest '99.CheersGrant