Boy bears up to reality

IT’S rare for a local theatre group to tackle issues which are so close to home, and confronting as suicide, bullying and isolation.
In Too Much to Bear, the Yarra Valley Youth Theatre Group (YVYTG) has grasped a nettle which has too much sting in it for most people.
Written by the group’s director, Howard Proctor and YVYTG actor, Toby Pilton, the play tracks five years of a boy’s life from 12 to 17 as he struggles with growing up in a dysfunctional family.
He takes refuge in a cubby with a teddy as he struggles with his intolerable life.
The tragic end portrays the effect on family and friends as they try to come to terms with loss.
Mr Proctor said the issues and themes both are relevant and confronting.
While the play is not suitable for younger children, he said he hopes people around the valley, from teens to senior citizens, will go along. “It is a play which needed to be written and which needs to be seen.”
The second play, Dream Jobs, written by Graham Jones, is a lighter performance about five young women and their dreams. Set in an employment office, while they wait for their interviews, they start to discuss what their dream jobs would be.
A basketballer? A nurse? An air hostess? A model? A dancer?
Reality or just dreams?
Too Much to Bear and Dream Jobs are on at the Upper Yarra Arts Centre in Warburton on Friday, 15 September, at 7.30pm, and Saturday, 16 September, at 2pm and 7.30pm.
To book phone 5966 5160.