Thanks Curious Folk for your feedback to our Urban Stories.
It was fantastic that so many of you who packed into the full-house performance at Riverside Theatres last month, took the time to put pen to paper with your thoughtful reactions.
These have now made their way to the young writers from our Curious Creators program for inspiration and reflection as they further develop their film and theatre scripts.
The evening of readings and short film scenes was a first public outing for the raw Urban Stories works emerging from the Curious Creators Writers Group. The themes covered family love, teen isolation, resilience, grief, racism, disability and desire, all through the eyes of young people from Sydney’s culturally-diverse western suburbs.
As Writers Group leader Miranda Aguilar summed up, “these stories could only have come out of Western Sydney”.
Judging from the audience feedback comments, there is a real appetite for such fresh insights.
“Really very brave and touching story. I love how ‘Shane’ does not shy away from themes of mental illness and the struggle to fit in.”
“If that is the family of the future, shoot me now! Great to celebrate father/daughter relationships and show resourceful women.”
“Beautiful story exploring all of the complexity and unspoken words of a female friendship. I would love to see more.”
People also seemed to appreciate the originality of story structures used for dramatic effect.
“The depth of the in-car conversations is a great idea. It’s amazing what can come out in a car ride.”
“I liked the idea of a character continuing his relationship with a dead brother.”
And that seemed to inspire the creative suggestions and constructive criticism we were after.
“Perhaps introduce an element of sheltering/opposition to Shane’s socialising in the form of an overprotective/overbearing parent.”
“It may be good to show Val and Thi’s relationship with the environs they come from through language, music, fashion, etc. What are they wanting to ‘escape’ from? And why?”
Thanks also to all the talented actors from the Powerhouse Youth Theatre Ensemble and CuriousWorks’ associate artists who brought these scripts to life on the night.
Check out more photos from the night.