As the New York Times stated, this show was nothing less than “the joyous and miserable chaos of adolescence distilled into a remarkable hour of theatre”. Thirteen teenagers seated in neatly lined-up chairs start roughhousing to the tune of the Velvet Underground – an explosion of unbridled energy, but carefully choreo-graphed, as they repeat exactly the same scene over and over again, in different moods and styles, to rebellious music of all ages, exploring every aspect of teenage life. From ballet class to rave party, first tender kisses to drug-induced bad trips. Alexander found a simple and pure form of repetition and variation to show the self-consciousness of teenagers, their vitality and clever dealings with the adult eyes surveilling them. The tight structure allowed the kids to feel free as performers and act naturally. The result was a “life-affirming, crazy, mixed-up show” that travelled all over the world, from New Zealand to Los Angeles, and picked up three awards at the Edinburgh Festival.
The joyous and miserable chaos of adolescence, distilled into a remarkable hour of theater… ‘Once and for All’ embraces and emphasizes the contradictions of the developing mind, creating a vivid 3D X-ray of the psyche in its formative years.
It's a marvelous, life-affirming conclusion to a remarkable performance that makes you jump with joy while you long for your own lost youth.
While this is probably the most life-affirming, crazy, mixed-up show you can witness this or any other year, you also realize that the enticingly beautiful sparks illuminating the stage will never be this young again.
The true genius of this production is that it uses puberty as a perfect excuse to create a play that raises profound questions about performance itself and the tension between artifice and authenticity, which is both a basic sore spot in theatre and an infinite murmur in every teenage heart.