Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, Cardiff
Fri 1 Dec – Sat 9 Dec
We’ve all been through it, right? From deadlines to dating, the fluorescence of adolescence is unsettling – for some more than others. In this instance, we have a group of seven high-achieving students, who are utterly riddled with A-Level angst, trying to battle with the omnipresent weight of living. Inspired by the experiences and emotions that he faced as a teacher, the old and young alike will be able to connect with Simon Stephens’ Punk Rock as it makes its Welsh debut at the RWCMD this month.
Punk Rock essentially embodies the trials and tribulations of students as they struggle with the stress of Sixth Form. Their actions conflict with their surroundings; the play is set in an elite establishment, a Stockport grammar school where anything less than articulate is regarded as inferior. Ongoing tension sees all standards thrown out of the window as fist fights and petty arguments continue to rip away at any relative sense of decorum that the students may have once shared.
Punk Rock may have previously been hailed as a pastiche, perhaps, of previous plays such as The History Boys – but don’t let this deceive you, the play strives to fight clichés of modern life as a teenager by hurling the audience into the nitty-gritty truths of today’s reality.
Tickets: £13/£11/£6. Info: 029 2034 2854 / www.rwcmd.ac.uk (SW)