Photo: Jassy Earl

The Show for Young Men

A man and a boy meet on a stage that’s somewhere between a building site, a junkyard, and a hillside at dawn. Together they dance, play, wrestle, and sing trying to make sense of what it means to be a man. 

The Show For Young Men is a tender and moving new contemporary dance piece made for audiences aged 8+, co-created and performed by Alfie, a 10-year-old boy, and Robbie Synge, a 40-something-year-old male dancer. 

Set against a backdrop of a fictional radio station, the production uses joyful dance and risk-taking play to explore Robbie and Alfie’s burgeoning friendship. Posing larger questions around male bonding and intimacy, the production forges a space where a more compassionate and caring mode of masculinity can exist.

Directed by Eoin McKenzie in collaboration with Alfie and Robbie Synge, and Scenographer Rachel O’Neill. With Sound Design by Greg Sinclair, Lighting Design by Simon Hayes, and Choreographic Development by Aya Kobayashi. The creative team also includes critical friends Ivor MacAskill and Luke Pell, and chaperone Marie-Gabrielle Koumenda.

Produced by Isy Sharman on behalf of new performance company GuestHouse Projects, The Show for Young Men has been developed with support from Creative Europe’s PUSH+ Programme and residencies with The Ark, Dublin; Aaben Dans, Roskilde; and Imaginate’s Accelerator programme.

This presentation is supported by North Edinburgh Arts Centre and Imaginate, with funding from Creative Scotland.

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