A troubled teenage son and his aloof single father pick their way through a bitterly indifferent relationship in a new show by celebrated poet and former youth worker Andrew Graves. In this funny and moving tale about growing up and getting it wrong, Andrew highlights the plight of today’s teens amid extensive cuts to youth services. God Save the Teen comes to London’s Bloomsbury Theatre, as part of a double-bill, prior to an extensive national tour.
Whether a teen or not, everyone will relate to this honest and nostalgic prayer to that joyously painful, pimple-faced period in our lives where everything and nothing seems possible; where you can be earnest, awkward, beautiful and ridiculous all at the same time.
Based on his new book, God Save the Teen (published by Burning Eye Books), Andrew relates a drama of gob-smackingly embarrassing first dates, imagined rock-n-roll supermarkets, divorce, disillusion, and working-class rebellion. Expect disappearing goths, sadistic PE teachers and a search for the truth and somewhere to belong.
Andrew says, “I believe the show’s themes, which highlight many forms of social injustice and issues relating to families and young people, particularly those from working class and disadvantaged backgrounds, will resonate strongly with modern audiences. Each performance, where possible, will also be accompanied by workshops and mentoring, specifically aimed at younger people.”
Since 2012, the UK has closed around 600 Youth Centres, lost 3,650 Youth Workers and axed 139,000 youth placements. As an ex-youth worker, Andrew was inspired to write and perform God Save the Teen to raise awareness of these issues.
Andrew Graves was shortlisted for Best Spoken Word Show 2016 in the Saboteur Awards. He regularly performs his work throughout the UK and has been recently been commissioned by the BBC for National Poetry Day. Other TV and radio programmes that have featured his work include 6 Music’s Cerys Matthew Show and BBC4 documentary Evidently John Cooper Clarke.
Andrew’s first book, Light at the End of the Tenner, was published Burning Eye Books. He has 15 years of experience as a workshop leader and facilitator and regularly delivers cult film courses at arthouse cinemas in Nottingham and Leicester, along with facilitating pre-screen introductions and Q&As.
God Save the Teen is produced by Renaissance One and is at Bloomsbury Theatre 11th December 2018 and 9th February 2019.
