From Where I am Standing (2008) was an intergenerational performance featuring members of Junction 25 and their parents exploring the dynamics of family life. From Where I Am Standing premiered at Tramway and was consecutively presented across Scotland at Promote YT’s National Festival of Youth Theatre 2008, Into The New Festival as part of New Territories and Forest Fringe at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2009 where it won a Total theatre Commendation. In 2010 it was supported by the Scottish Arts Council to tour nationally and internationally including to sell out audiences at Rogaland Theatre in Stavanger, Norway.
This was a creative experiment in which Junction 25 invited one their parents (or guardian) to join the group in an attempt to look at family relationships and in particular the relationships between young people and their parents. The process was nerve wracking for everyone. What if they say something that really embarrasses me? What if she makes a silly joke, or he says something that I don’t agree with, or sings that song? What if they don’t want to join in? This process was completely joyful, we laughed, we cried, we became frustrated, we fought, we danced and sang and held each other and at times definitely embarrassing for everyone but that is the nature of parents and children.
The design for this performance was done in collaboration with the artist James Leadbitter who created a giant living room in which each family group (we had some siblings in Junction 25) had their own domestic style of seating.