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FROM THE DIRECTOR

Elli and her group are the “it” kids in school. That group of teenagers that every school seems to have that appear to make a sport out of making all of the other students’ lives a misery.  After getting in trouble for bullying one too many times, they create a fake social media account so they can continue to inflict torment on their peers. The account’s name, ‘April Aardvark’, echoes through the halls with fear and confusion. She is nasty and vindicative and her joy in embarrassing and insulting others knows no bounds. The gang are very pleased with their efforts, that is until the day that a living, breathing person named April Aardvark shows up at school and begins to unleash her terror on them!

This production is the realisation of the work the Pre-Senior Tread the Boards students have been doing on Magical Realism. In this style of theatre, the everyday stuff happens alongside the fantastical. It allows ideas beyond what is realistic to be explored in a way that can help us to hold a mirror up to our lives. This blending of realities has helped us to explore some really important ideas like social hierarchies, respect for others and appreciation of difference. The students have done an excellent job of creating very real and believable characters to tell this (only just) fantastical story. A lot of what you see in this work is all too close to home for too many young people navigating our digital world. You may be interested – or horrified – to know that they sound scape of dings and buzzes heard throughout the play are not sound effects. They are simply the result of this cast of 15 young people switching their phones and notifications off silent.