Created by Eleanor Bishop & Karin McCracken in collaboration with a group of school students in New Zealand, YES YES YES is aimed at young people and deals with the complexities of consent and respectful relationships in a way that is inclusive, compassionate, and practical.
The show focused on two key scenarios – an anecdote from Karin about meeting and hooking up with a boy named Tom, and a scenario in which a fictional person, Ari, was sexually assaulted at a party. Karin played both herself and Tom as she described and demonstrated the language and behaviour that led both of them to know that enthusiastic consent was being given by the other person. In telling Ari’s story, members of the audience were asked to volunteer to read the parts of a few other characters, who discussed the situation via online messaging.
These onstage scenes were interposed by video interviews with high school students in New Zealand, recorded after a series of workshops conducted by Bishop and McCracken. The students in the videos spoke candidly about their experiences – both positive and negative – of sex, love, crushes, consent, gendered expectations, non-consensual photographs, and more. YES YES YES also addressed questions and conversation that might be helpful for supporting a loved one if they chose to disclose a sexual assault.
Simple projections of names helped to keep the characters clear, especially when audience members read their lines, and the video interviews were also projected onto the wall of the Roundhouse Theatre. There was no onstage set, only the projections and three microphones set up for use by the audience volunteers in telling Ari’s story.
The tone of the show was generally upbeat, without being dismissive or patronising. In the spirit of the work’s key themes, YES YES YES used an online poll to check in with the audience throughout the show and concluded with a brief, facilitated discussion that allowed audience members to share their feelings and ask questions.
Clear communication was modelled by McCracken throughout the show, in her scripted performance as well as her interactions with the audience of predominantly young people. She was energetic and expressive onstage, and her delivery was highly polished while remaining warm and genuine.
The season of this performance at La Boite also coincides with the 2023 rollout of consent education across the Australian Curriculum. This is the kind of approachable, inclusive, and compassionate sex education and guidance on difficult conversations I wish I had been able to see when I was a young person navigating this tricky and volatile time.
YES YES YES was performed at the Roundhouse Theatre, Kelvin Grove, from 4 – 6 September 2023
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