Ucluetian teens are poised to get personal with their community.
Courtney Johnson is excited to present her new project, The Teen Monologues, at the Ucluelet Community Centre on Dec. 1 and Dec. 2 with doors opening at 6 p.m. both nights.
The project is a bit of a change of pace for Johnson, who co-founded the Ukee Glee Kids program, and she told the Westerly News that she’s thrilled to provide a venue for 10 local teenagers to express their voice.
“It’s a theatre production where the teens are talking about a lot of issues and a lot of things that they have going on and things that are just going on in the world generally today,” she said. “I hope you wear waterproof mascara and bring tissues because it is really emotional to watch these kids up on stage talking about relationships and parents or talking about racism they experience or talking about what it was like to come out or talking about dealing with depression…There’s a lot of uplifting stories too. It’s not just one big drama train of tears.”
She said it’s important for local adults to listen to the next generation’s perspective and added that today’s teens are constantly adapting to a rapidly changing social environment.
“We can all remember what it’s like to be a teenager, but that doesn’t mean that we know what it’s like to be a teen today…There’s a lot of very, very revolutionary changes that are happening and I kind of wanted to see what teens thought about life right now in general,” she said. “It turns out that they have a lot to say. I was absolutely blown away.”
She hopes locals come out to hear their community’s future leaders speak.
“I consider myself incredibly lucky to have met them and to be part of their lives…I’m excited about the younger generation that’s coming,” she said.
“There is something about the youth on the coast that really is different than youth that I’ve encountered in other places. There really is something quite special about them. I would imagine that once they graduate they go out in the world and try to find their own little mark as little fledglings, those qualities of being local to Ucluelet is something that is noticed. Even if people aren’t really sure what it is that they’re noticing, I think that that difference stands out in a very positive way.”