But what is worse than the questions asked is the ones they fail to ask and the more we fudge on the former the more there will be in the latter. Guaranteed.
I found most of the difficult questions in my son's formative years came in the car on the way home from the theatre. Good theatre raises questions and provides a very comfortable starting point for the discussion.
I firmly recall the car ride home from seeing Two Weeks With the Queen. That discussion was about life and death, AIDS, sex, semen, homosexuality and probably more. He wanted to know stuff. I answered it in an open, honest and age appropriate way. Perhaps had I known what children's author Morris Gleitzman had in store for us that night we might not have gone. That would have been a shame. At some point those questions would form. The answers should come from a trusted source. All of that is, of course, ancient history. I raise it today only because of the connection between theatre and the questions young people have for adults. I've Been Meaning to Ask You, which had its world premiere as part of the Brisbane Festival tonight, is a crowd-sourced verbatim piece which taps into the hive mind of two generations, It connects people with questions to those with answers - not definitive answers but honest ones. It does so with a great sense of fun, a whole lot of technical wizardry and just a bit of a song and a dance for good measure. Instead of dancing around the difficult questions it waltzes right up to them. And because the performers are all young it has a beguiling sense of innocence about it. It has all the hallmarks of its creators The Good Room - It's fast and furious, thought provoking but at the same time good fun. And best of all, if I have questions I can now turn the tables. The drama student is now the expert. Winning.You can hear our review here
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