Digital Event

The Kids Are Alright

Co-created by Writer
Lee Mattinson

Co-created by Director & Choreographer
Jen Malarkey

Associate Director
Temitope Ajose-Cutting

Performers
Janet Etuk, Carl Harrison

Dates
27 Nov - 2 Dec 2020

Artist/Company
Encounter

Due to the new national Covid-19 restrictions the performances due to take place in Deptford, Camden, and Byker, were delivered via streams only.

One night.
One take.
Watch now.

The Kids Are Alright explored the extraordinary grief of losing a child.

When a day trip to the Natural History Museum turns to tragedy, Karen and Keith return home alone. Behind their four walls they attempt to make sense of the unimaginable in ways as unpredictable as the incident itself. But how do you rebuild a family when a whole life has been sucked out of it? Dismantle a dog? Cruise the Algarve? Or fight to the death yourselves?

This film was the third act of The Kids Are Alright under lockdown restrictions. From open performances across council estates in London and Newcastle to adapting the show for both live and digital audiences, The Kids Are Alright was streamed to all in full HD on YouTube.

On what would have been our opening night in Deptford – the last day before the second national lockdown – we ran the show on the Evelyn Estate and filmed in one take. The result intimately captured how, for a single hour, characters and residents co-existed as the performance became part of the place.

Co-created by director & choreographer Jen Malarkey and writer Lee Mattinson.

Co-commissioned by Fuel and The Place. In partnership with The Albany, Lewisham Homes, Camden People’s Theatre, Northern Stage, and Byker Community Trust. The project is funded by Arts Council England, Wellcome Trust, and the Peggy Ramsay Foundation.