Our Generation - Dorfman (NT)/Minerva (Chichester)

I managed to see Our Generation tonight on my third attempt, and I wish I hadn't bothered. The Dorfman's seats, with their wafer-thin foam padding, are bad enough at the best of times, but for over three and a half hours, and for a production that fails to offer any diversion from posterior aches, this was quite the endurance test.

I should say from the outset that there was an enthusiastic standing ovation from most of the audience, so maybe I am in the minority, but I was so grateful when it was all over.

How this group of teenagers was selected for interviews over the course of five years, I cannot fathom, because they have little of actual interest to say. Their attitudes, immaturity, superficiality and self-centredness reflect badly on their generation. I did not warm to them. They are nothing like young people I meet, who are savvy, smart and care about others.

The selection of audio clips to re-enact could have been halved or cut further with nothing lost. There was nothing insightful to be found.

I pondered why the Up documentary series was so compelling, yet Our Generation singularly fails to engage. The answer lies in the careful choice of fascinating participants, the masterful editing of hours of footage, and the fact that Up had a narrative purpose to demonstrate how class is instrumental in determining who we become. Our Generation has no over-arching agenda; it's just random musings. Even the effects of the global pandemic, which this piece could have been centred around, feel tacked on as a late addition, consuming just the first half of the short Act 3.

It was clear the cast were not acting directly from the words on the page, but rather listening to the recorded interviews, then seeking to do an impersonation. They achieve this remarkably well, and are to be commended. The range of accents, mostly sounding authentic, was astonishing.

A pattern of horizontal and vertical tube lights moved up and down over the needlessly high thrust stage. Quite why escaped me. Similarly perplexing was the decision to break the fourth wall on occasion, including offering crudités to the front row, stage right.

This production felt like a self-indulgent vanity project. I was bored, and the time dragged severely, but it was clear that many others were of a more appreciative mindset.

Two stars.

Act 1: 19:06-20:24
Act 2: 20:40-21:52
Act 3: 22:03-22:39

[Notes on seating: the stage is about 1.2m high. My eye level, on the front row centre block, was just a tad above this. The front rows of the side blocks in the Pit arguably have a better view, as they are raised about 40cm. The second rows of these side blocks are on the same level as the row in front, and offer no rake. On the sections of these side blocks that have four rows, the third row also has no rake.]

Press Night last night and it should get positive reviews. Yes it's overlong and episodic but the characters are so engaging and funny you can't help but root for them through their difficulties, teenage angst and attempts to deal with modern life and all its problems. I certainly wouldn't want to be a teen now but they come across as hopeful, optimistic and generally full of positive energy about life whatever it throws at them (collectively and individually it's a lot). I struggled a bit with the varying ages as the stories unfold, especially as the young and very impressive actors are all in their early twenties, and some stories don't develop as well as others but all of them have their moments - Hélder Fernandes in particular, making his professional stage debut, as basketball player Luan is wonderful, a real revelation  and star in the making - and this is generally a warm, funny and delightful evening of theatre in very good company. Four stars.

I quite enjoyed this. Found it deeply moving, incredibly well acted and beautifully directed. It's certainly a bit long and could do with some trimming, but I think it's marvelous.

Pleased to see it's generally received very, very positive reviews with lots of love for the play and the talented young cast. A lot of four stars. The Guardian, Time Out, Evening Standard and Telegraph all loved it.

Shocking.

Too long, boring characters that were simply annoying and you couldn’t relate to them. Some elements such as the exam was excellent but I wanted to root for it but couldn't. The cast is fantastic, Blythe should cut half the material and maybe then it would be more relatable and interesting.

Every piece of comedy with the audience and interaction was unecessary and cheap laughs. I’m sorry why do they give out carrots!?!?! 

The lighting is serviceable, the set is boring and kind of useless. Felt like a workshop not a paid performance despite the fantastic effort from the performers especially the actors playing Callum, Lucas and Annabelle.

2⭐️ (only more than 0 because of the cast who were very talented)

Hi. 
I understand the marmite reaction that people have experienced because of this play. I, having gone through COVID in school and was part of the year who very recently did their GCSEs and a levels I just did not understand some of the characters behaviour especially the immaturity of Ierum. 

I think that it did feel like it was written by someone much older than the generation which was its downfall.

There were elements that I loved especially the physical moments including the ‘exams’. I will reiterate that the cast was fantastic. The direction and writing was just subpar. The verbatim aspect could’ve been well used but the lack of stakes from ANY character made it very challenging to relate and get along with the story that was 4 hours long when I watched it. 

A play about ‘Our Generation’ should relate to that generation no?, and it didn’t.

glad people have enjoyed it however, the carrots interaction especially was strange and completely unrelated to the scene being performed unlike other interactions which were slightly connected.

And as someone of ‘that generation’ did there need to be 12 different stories? Could have Blythe cut some of the material to make it engaging - yes. The teens stories were heartbreaking and funny, but also, for some of them, very moany, boring and immature for any teen of that age. 
Maybe I just don’t enjoy verbatim theatre? Blythe could’ve cut it down to make it more…soemthing, to make things happen… quicker. It was interesting, I just didn’t like more than 1/2 of it.
Half my group (of 10) loved it, half hated it. It’s very opinionated piece in terms of politics and characters.

These words were collated and edited by a writer who has been active as an actor and writer since 2003 and so is around 40.

Creating a piece of verbatim theatre is not just a matter of transcribing what was said and performing it. It is about an editing process which means the authenticity of the voices starts to diminish. A certain element will always be lost.

I don't think it is right to critique a teenage commenter for saying that it didn't ring fully true to them. The very way such a piece like this is created means that only certain parts of certain voices make the cut, only certain voices are even heard/considered in the first place. It cannot ever seek to reflect all teenage life. It cannot ever be truly authentic. It is a construct filtered through the brain of a writer who is more 20 years older than any of the participants.

It isn't a piece that can represent a generation. It doesn't surprise me that there are those who find it doesn't feel true to their own experience.

I totally agree. It is very funny to me because I very much enjoyed the adult characters, especially the man! As a piece called ‘Our Generation’ I guess that, being someone who hasn’t yet gone through adulthood hasn’t yet seen why those characters are caricatures because they have been described by someone similar to my age in many interviews

It’s a very important piece of theatre, that didn’t relate to me and half my group, but has to many others. Which I think is the point of it!

I agree that it is the playwrights responsibility to ‘make’ it compelling (or not depending on the intention) by using the best content or characters - the most.

it’s amazing to see many different peoples opinions!