How was your experience of Youth Interplay? Exciting, helpful, eye-opening and stress-relieving. Too short. Perhaps 5 days? Would love that. Evaporating. Me likey. The whole experience was not at all stressful. It was exciting and it taught me heaps. All the exercises made it really fun, all the techniques made it interesting. Helpful, fun, relaxing, enthralling. Very productive, great to not work on outcome, but process and structure. It was good, different in a good way. I loved it. Fun and helpful. Fun. Did you have a favourite activity that assisted with your writing? Working physically with others to gain visual stimulus. Grid. The Grid workshop. I really liked the grid exercise. I really enjoyed doing the yoga exercises as well. The picture activity. Lunchtime?? No, everything really ? Making the soapy and the show at the end. The picture writing. Ummmm…Window exercise. Soapy. Very funny. The best thing about Youth Interplay is… The opportunity given and networking available. The sandwiches. Not playing Mariah (Carey) all the time! Being around all these amazing people and pushing yourself to do work. Writing. Everyone involved. The teachers. Meeting people. Lachlan!! Nah…the theme. Team writing, group. Youth Interplay has taught me … Where to start, that structure isn’t essential, to trust my imagination, and writing with my other hand brings out interesting results. Much. That I can write alright poetry. To be more trusting of myself and my work. …so much that this space isn’t sufficient. To follow what’s natural and not to be so critical. To network and to never give up – we are writers. How to write in different styles. That I might be capable of writing. How to write!! Was there anything you think could be improved? Perhaps some more one-on-one working time. Try not to make us fall asleep [meditation]. Nothing comes to mind. It was the perfect blend. Some of the pens were out of ink. (When they are running out they are fine). I didn’t have any problem. NO! The music. No. Nadine’s jokes. Neh! Did you write often before Youth Interplay? No. Yeah, but not as much as I did in the past 2 days. I haven’t really written at all. I’ve limited myself to school work. A bit, not heaps and heaps. Not much. NO! Yes. Rarely. Now and then. Indeed. Will you continue to write after this weekend? Definitely. Of course. Yes, I’ll try and do a page every night. YES!!! Absolutely. Definitely – you have inspired me. Yes. Yes… Yes. Indeed. Would you be interested in attending other Interplay Festivals? Definitely. Please. Probably. Bring it on. Oh, I’d love to. Hell yeah! Certainly! Yes. Depending on the times and days. YES! Yes. Need I say it again – Indeed! Kasimir Zierl's Response What was the Youth Interplay experience like for me? Well I'll have to say that my experience of Youth Interplay relates to the metaphor of a child learning to blow soap bubbles. The child knew before hand that they are capable of such a feat. They have tried it before and made a good bubble every now and then. BUT through the calm and gentle teaching that they have received by a wonderful tutor, the child can now blow soap bubbles a hundred times better than they believed they could before. Not only that but now the child has a greater knowledge of the methods they can employ to make greater and larger bubbles. They can also make small, humble bubbles if they wish to. All in all the teaching that the child has received has greatly opened their mind as to the possibilities of turning soap bubble blowing into an occupation. Now they know how simple it is to blow great soap bubbles, the sky is the limit. This is what Youth Interplay was like for me. It taught me how to find a way to view my work differently, a way to kick start an idea to the stratosphere, a way to take a scene where I could not imagine. Now as I write I use a lot of pictures, I let the scene write itself and pour out my thoughts as quickly as they arrive in my head. It may not make sense reading it back but hey I am only writing drafts as it is. And if it really makes no sense......then I can call it abstract. KaS. Jeremy Cheetham's Response It all started one scary, early Friday morning here in Townsville as I walked into the Dance North Performing Arts Building with Mollee. We were greeted by Lachlan who told us two other people we knew we coming but it was too early in the morning to understand English. We entered the auditorium and filled out our details. One of the staff, Maxine, caught my eye. I told myself that I was going to kill her if she looked me in the eyes but only coz it was still that hour of the morning. After quick intro's with all the other participants who all seemed much younger than me and therefore unworthy of my presence, we started warming up with Nadine and we tried to get everyone to connect with each other for what was to become an extremely tiring but fruitful weekend. Straight after that we selected pictures from a pile and began generative writing for fifteen minutes straight. For someone like me who is an actor/writer (yes, in that order) I was surprised to find that I was able to let my hand and brain connect in some miraculous fluke. There was something about the environment that made me feel other-worldly (I would say ethereal but I don't want to get carried away).This was the basic process that was used throughout the weekend to help us unblock our minds, hands, hearts and allow us to write without judging ourselves. After all, as Lachlan explained to the group that's why everyone else is there, to attack ur work for u. Day two and we were all as tired and exhausted from the previous day as our mothers had been after giving birth to us but there was no time to sit and think. Off we went again with a few extra members today. Luckily, they just seemed to fit into the group dynamic otherwise there would have been hell to pay. Another day of hardcore writing, learning and teaching our selves and our peers and there we went to bed again. Day three and I realised that every single piece of work that I had written, even though I was using different stimuli and techniques had all resulted in me writing several parts of the one piece. I'm not quite sure where to take it still but I'm just going to keep writing and get it out of my system because I know it's been there since I was about 14(and that's why you shouldn't expect greatness from me just yet). We did a showing of some of the work that we had created and was very proud of everyone's efforts, achievements and most of all, bravery. Seeing these? kids' from grades 8 through 10 getting up in front of friends and family and showcasing the work that we had all done together made me slightly maternal (I use that term loosley). I just have to say that if there is anyone out there who has toyed with? the idea of writing to get involved with Interplay. The fact that the opportunity to workshop and connect with other people from within Townsville and beyond is something that should not be taken for granted because if Interplay was to pack up shop right now and disappear like many other arts organisations then how on earth could we stand up as a creative community and say that we were doing what we could to encourage the growth of young, fresh, innovative work that, without Interplay just may never exist. Ciao and thanks to everyone at Interplay, Jeremy Cheetham aka Princess Bitchface.