Andrew Broadley as Michael, in JustUs. Photo: Meredith Johnson
Audience members have described the premiere of JustUs, a new verbatim theatre work created by Massey University Creativity in the Community students as “powerful” and “fantastic”.
The original work, which was developed in collaboration with JustSpeak, a youth-led justice advocacy charity, was staged for the first time in Wellington today (June 1), and will return for two more performances, on June 3 and June 9.
The 40 minute one-act production combines film and live theatre to trace the journeys of two brothers through the NZ criminal justice system. It resulted from the Massey expressive arts students’ work with JustSpeak to understand the differences in life outcome for 16-year-olds, who can access Youth Court processes, and 17-year-olds, who are tried in the adult court system. From a series of guest lectures, the students workshopped creative concepts then developed an original script.
The staging of the work is timely, with the government currently considering whether to raise the youth court age. Principal Youth Court Judge Andrew Becroft has recently described New Zealand’s youth justice age of 17 as “an enduring stain on New Zealand’s otherwise
Fusi Mesui and Hamish Boyle in JustUs. Photo: Meredith Johnson
good youth justice record.”
While New Zealand’s youth justice system was considered internationally to be “pioneering in its approach”, it had a long way to go, Judge Becroft said.
JustUs aimed to present that ‘long way to go’ concept through theatre, to reach out to an audience beyond those directly connected with the justice system and, through creativity, engage more people in considering the impact on broader society of our justice approach to youth offending.
The dialogue in the piece is predominately taken from direct interviews the class were able to have, through working via JustSpeak, with youth offenders and the community workers who support them. While the speech and context are real, the students then created a fictional dramatic structure around that dialogue featuring two brothers whose only difference is age, with their upbringing, culture and crime identical.
Course coordinator, Associate Professor Elspeth Tilley, also invited established creative artists who have worked in prisons and on justice issues to talk to the class about how to apply creativity to challenging and sensitive topics. Playwrights William Brandt and Jo Randerson, and author Pip Adam, all of whom have extensive experience teaching creative writing in prisons, were among those who helped the students by providing specialist creative guidance.
JustUs poster – design by Fusi Mesui.
Audience members’ written feedback after the first performance included “Fantastic performance, really powerful and wonderfully performed. Thank you so much, and well done to all the cast and crew,” and “That was truly awesome – had tears in my eyes.” Another said “What a great performance. I was so impressed. It was fantastic.”
JustUs returns to the stage on June 3, 2016 at 7pm as part of the Wellington Expressive Arts Students’ End of Semester Showcase and on June 9, when it will begin at 6.30pm, be held at a larger venue in downtown Wellington and followed by a speaker panel and community forum. All welcome. Entry at the final performance will be by koha to support the advocacy work of JustSpeak.
To receive updates join the Facebook event for the June 9 event at https://www.facebook.com/events/604959266344766/