Our annual school production is on this week at Westlake Boys High School! YouthQuake runs from Tuesday 24 July to Saturday 28 July, 7.30pm, with a matinee on Saturday 28 July at 2.30pm.
An original piece by teachers from both Westlake schools, YouthQuake was devised in collaboration with a number of students. In late 2017, over 60 students from both schools were asked the following question: How does your position as a young New Zealander shape your experience of 21st Century life? The discussion which came from this question, and the wonderfully warm, witty and clever words used by our students has formed the backbone of this production.
The 2017 Oxford Dictionary Word of the Year was YouthQuake, meaning: “a significant cultural, political or social change arising from the actions or influence of young people”.
The production of YouthQuake is a series of vignettes that showcase what our students think and feel about being teenagers both in New Zealand and as part of a wider youth population on a global scale. The show tackles many contentious current issues, such as the #MeToo movement, Trumpism, gender stereotypes, labelling and racism. The show also features scenes in several different languages to reflect the multicultural backgrounds of our cast.
