Freelance directors Luke Kerridge and Lachlan Philpott weren’t happy with how drama students in their HSC year were performing standard, well known monologue pieces that had little Australian flavour and nuance to them. They came up with the practical idea to address this issue by inviting eleven young playwrights to write original monologue pieces through the Australian Theatre for Young People’s (ATYP) Fresh Ink Program, that were then to be performed by some of our finest young actors. The brief was for the playwrights to write ‘real, relevant and challenging eight minute monologues about seventeen year olds to be performed by seventeen year olds’.

The result is the ATYP’s innovative, impressive debut production for the year, ‘Tell It Like It Isn’t’. The feature of the show was a great mix of energised and talented performers working with cutting edge, sharp and often humourous contemporary writing.

The set was a school playground. The show started with a title song performed by the whole ensemble, followed by the succession of monologues that began with tie-ins between the pieces. The show ended with an up-tempo final number performed by the ensemble, followed by rich applause.

For the record this was the program for this production. Rosie Connolly performed ‘Brown Lips’ written by Nakkiah Lui, Felix Dupuy performed A.C.I by Jasper Marlow, Joshua Forward performed ‘Burnt’ by Chris Summers, Laura Hopkinson performed ‘Boot’ by Joanne Erskine, Sophie Irvine performed ‘Pink Fireworks’ by Finn O’Branagan, Danny Kim performed ‘Little Love’ by Jessica Bellamy, Adam Marks performed ‘Mike’ by Phil Spencer, Kyle McLeavy performed ‘First Light’ by Vanessa Bates, Gabrielle Nemeth-Taylor performed ‘Principal’ by Zoe Hogan, Patrick Richards performed ‘Fun in an A Cup’ by Tim Spencer, and Julia Rorke performed ‘Elissa Louisa-Smith Loves William Cornelius Bennel Forever’ by Sarah Hope.

This current ATYP production will be seen by many HSC drama students as the show coincides with the Board of Studies NSW and the Department of Education and Training’s onSTAGE program. This enables many drama students from around New South Wales, who come to Sydney, to be inspired by Sydney’s vibrant theatre scene. The optimal outcome of the Fresh Ink Program is that some of the audience students will choose to perform some of the monologues showcased during the run, as part of their HSC assessment.

The Australian Theatre For Young People’s (ATYP) ‘Tell It Like It Isn’t’ opened at the ATYP Studio 1, the Wharf on Thursday 3rd February and plays Wednesdays till Saturdays until Saturday February 19, 2011.