On Tuesday the 7th and Thursday the 9th of December, Byron Youth Theatre (BYT) brought the thought provoking, poignant social action theatrical production titled Our Home Holiday Town to our community.

Half of the required funding for the production came from the 2021 Recovery and Resilient Grants Program which saw BYT partner with the Centre for Children and Young People at Southern Cross University.

Director of BYT, Lisa Apostolides and the cast members worked closely with Dr. Antonia Canosa, Dr. Catherine Simmons and Dr. Peter Cook to uncover tourism-related issues in the Byron Shire, and the mental health concerns for young people. “It is so important that young people have a platform to raise their concerns and call our community to action over issues that are affecting us all” shared Director Lisa Apostolides

Trained as co-researchers during a series of workshops, cast members conducted interviews and surveys with their peers and community members to understand the effect of the impact. The research revealed young people care deeply about their community, particularly when witnessing the negative impacts of tourism activity, including littering, anti-social behaviours, housing affordability, homelessness, and disrespect for Aboriginal sacred sites.

“It’s been an absolute privilege to work with Lisa and the cast at BYT. This was an empowering experience for the young people who want to be actively involved in lobbying for more socially and environmentally just forms of tourism in their community” said Dr Canosa.

Due to a Covid scare, the Friday and Saturday performances unfortunately had to be cancelled. However, on Wednesday December 8th a camera crew from local production company, Motion Circus and SAE Creative Media Institute captured the performance. This will be made available to purchase through BYT’s Exposure Live  online platform from January 5th 2022.

BYT hope all those who missed out, schools and local youth organisations enjoy this professionally filmed production. Find out more about the great work of the Byron Youth Theatre and upcoming performances HERE