Review: Yes Yes Yes at the Seymour Centre

Review by Kate Gaul

“Yes Yes Yes” is a signature work by Aotearoa New Zealand practitioners Eleanor Bishop and Karin McCracken, supporting social change through the promotion of consent culture and healthy relationships to a target 14- to 22-year-old youth audience. It has enjoyed a long touring history around the world. This is a production for anyone who is curious about how to talk about consent and how to present it in a story telling context like a theatre show.

This is a beautifully conceived and executed production which had the teen audience enthralled. “Yes Yes Yes” unfolds around four main elements: an autobiographical story performed by McCracken describing the events leading to a positive sexual experience; a fictional story of a non-consensual experience featuring scripted material read by audience volunteers; pre-recorded interviews with young people discussing the show’s themes; and the invitation for audience members to anonymously share their responses to the show’s content to a live-text feed.  All are seamlessly woven into the 50 minutes of the show which begins with McCracken meeting the audience in a casual way to see who might volunteer for the onstage readings – always mindful she is modelling what it is to ask permission and provide consent.  She previews the content of the show, making it clear that the audience can choose to leave the room and opt out at any time.

Apart from the retelling of her own hook up experience with Tom, the show cleverly uses gender-neutral names and pronouns as a Trojan Horse to demonstrate that harm can be perpetrated by any gender, and foregrounds sexual violence as a community issue for which everyone must take responsibility. She takes time during the show to encourage the audience to participate twice in the live-feed responses as the stories unfold.  Audience members anonymously share their responses to the material.  Finally, there is a 20-minute warm down with the audience where you can ask questions and chat.

The production employs video of young people talking about crushes, first kisses, sex – it’s all presented with a light touch, it is funny and charming.  I sat in wonder that today young people have a language to describe what is happening to them and that there is no place for shame. Although of course we may feel shame “Yes Yes Yes” shows that there is a way of talking about experiences. And how to listen. The audience is savvy when it comes to talking about sexual relationships and I loved that the production never speaks down to its audience even though we’re confronting some uncomfortable topics.  The sea of school uniforms was no barrier to respect, agency and truth.

The show is aimed at youth, but this is about something a that is important to us all as humans.  It all ends on a high (a sugar high? – you have to be there) and I recommend this work to anyone who is curious about the content or curious to see solid theatre making that matters.  Grab a teen and get to the theatre!

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