Once And For All We're Gonna Tell You Who We Are So Shut Up And Listen

photo: Phile Deprez

About halfway through this wildly energetic hour of astutely organized chaos I knew I'd never seen anything on stage before that so succinctly captured the fleeting impulsive abandon of adolescence. Even the impossibly long in-your-face title is authentically teenage. There are a few monologues, and perhaps one segment that could be called a traditional scene, but otherwise the show has the vibrantly messy thrill of a free-for-all, as if the 13 teenagers we see on stage have just wandered there to make it their playground. While Velvet Underground blares from the loudspeakers, the kids break off within the group to snap elastic bands at each other, or grope each other clumsily in make-out sessions, or stand on chairs as if they are airplanes. There's something deeply truthful in these exhibitions of playful discovery - it's impossible to watch and not remember the boundless energy, curiosity and hunger of being a teenager. The hour is divided into distinct segments and has clearly been shaped and choreographed, if that's the word, but the behavior on stage typically feels organic, as if the kids are just being rather than performing for our benefit. It's completely captivating and like nothing I have ever seen before. At the Duke as part of this year's Under The Radar festival, a stop on its world tour following a huge splash 2 years ago at the Edinburgh Fringe.