In Yer Face Theatre

WHAT? In-yer-face theatre is the kind of theatre which grabs the audience by the scruff of the neck and shakes it until it gets the message. The sanitized phrase 'in-your-face' is defined by the New Oxford English Dictionary (1998) as something 'blatantly aggressive or provocative, impossible to ignore or avoid'. The Collins English Dictionary (1998) adds the adjective 'confrontational'. 'In-your-face' originated in American sports journalism during the mid-1970s as an exclamation of derision or contempt, and gradually seeped into more mainstream slang during the late 1980s and 1990s, meaning 'aggressive, provocative, brash'. It implies being forced to see something close up, having your personal space invaded. It suggests the crossing of normal boundaries. In short, it describes perfectly the kind of theatre that puts audiences in just such a situation.

In-yer-face theatre shocks audiences by the extremism of its language and images; unsettles them by its emotional frankness and disturbs them by its acute questioning of moral norms. It not only sums up the zeitgeist, but criticises it as well. Most in-yer-face plays are not interested in showing events in a detached way and allowing audiences to speculate about them; instead, they are experiential - they want audiences to feel the extreme emotions that are being shown on stage. In-yer-face theatre is experiential theatre.

WHEN?Although the upsurge of in-yer-face theatre in Britain had many antecedents, especially in the alternative theatre of the 1960s, it only took off as a new and shocking sensibility in the decade of the 1990s. Just as the origins of provocative and confrontational theatre can be found in the theories of Alfred Jarry and Antonin Artaud, at the start of the 20th century, so it was that in the 1990s it gradually became the dominant style of much new writing.

Citezenship Review

Review by Philip Fisher

The play is a comedy that sees another mid-teen, Sid Mitchell's Tom, trying to make up his mind about his own sexuality. For the duration of the play, he vacillates between tough Amy, a self-mutilator played by Claire-Louise Cordwell, and a selection of men. This being Ravenhill, his choice will not be a shock.

Mark Ravenhill, in far more accessible mood than The Cut, makes the most of the comic possibilities, but with sensitivity. He introduces us to Gay Gary, a permanently high rasta, confusingly but impressively played by the white Matt Smith and belying his name as he proves to be straight. By way of contrast, Tom's shy but incredibly stressed teacher (Richard Dempsey) is not but cannot let on to a pupil.

Teenagers will love this play and in particular the life skills learned by inarticulate, gum-chewing teenaged girls who are left holding the (plastic) baby for a week at a time. Their different reactions are both telling and extremely funny.

For Amy, the life skills soon become reality but perhaps pleasingly, this is the making of her as she finally finds an occupation that takes her mind off her own woes. This may be a little convenient dramatically but at the end of such a hard-hitting evening, that is no bad thing.

Teenage Pregancy

Age of consent

Age of consent is the age that you're allowed to have sex. So if you're thinking about doing it, you'd better check out the laws and guidelines here first...

What is it?

The age at which you can legally have sex.

What are the rules?

• In England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales we have to be 16 or older to have homosexual (gay) or heterosexual (straight) sex.
• 'Sex' means penetrative sex, oral sex or masturbating together.

What happens if you have underage sex?

The law sees it as sexual assault - it's a criminal offence. This is because in the eyes of the law we are unable to give informed consent to sex when still a child.

• A boy who has sex with a girl under 16 (17 in NI) is breaking the law. Even if she agrees.
• If she is 13-15, the boy could go to prison for two years.
• If she is under 13 he could be sentenced to life imprisonment.
• A girl age 16 or over who has sex with a boy under 16 can be prosecuted for indecent assault.

The law isn't there to make life difficult. It's there to protect us. Everyone is ready for sex at different ages. But the law has to generalise. To protect those who are most vulnerable, from exploitation.

Social Research For The Play “Citizenship”

• Until 2003, the homosexual age of consent was composed of two criminal offences. First “buggery” (the legal term for anal intercourse) and second “gross indecency” (which covers all other homosexual acts).
• In 1967 homosexual acts between men aged 21 or over were decriminalised. In 1994 the minimum age (known as the ‘age of consent’) was lowered to 18. 1998 saw the beginning of a three-year campaign to lower the age of homosexual consent to 16.
• MPs and Peers had a free vote. The Commons voted on successive occasions for the age to be lowered to 16 but each time the Lords rejected the move.
• Because of the way the legislation was drafted MPs who voted for the age of homosexual consent to be lowered to 16 were at the same time also voting for the age at which girls could be subject to buggery to be lowered from 18 to 16.
• In the summer of 2000 the Government threatened to use the Parliament Acts to override the House of Lords and force the legislation through. In response, the House of Lords passed a compromise amendment which kept the age for buggery at 18 for boys and girls, but left intact the provisions in the Government Bill which permitted other homosexual acts at 16.
• The Government rejected this compromise and invoked the Parliament Acts. They did not allow any time for the Commons to consider the Lords compromise amendment. In January 2001 the age of homosexual consent was reduced to 16 and the age at which girls could be subject to buggery was also reduced to 16.
• In Northern Ireland the heterosexual age of consent is 17. Hence, the age of consent for buggery of a male and homosexual acts in the Province was reduced from 18 to 17, not 16.
• It is important to note that the 2003 Sexual Offences Act sought to remove any legal distinction in the criminal law between heterosexual and homosexual activity. All sexual activity with under 16s, whether heterosexual or homosexual, is now covered by the same laws.
• Buggery of a female in Northern Ireland was legalised in 2003, under the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) order 2003.