New immersive production brings younger generations into the world of theater

For years, classical theater productions have set the standard for what musicals and plays are supposed to look like.  A Teen Odyssey, a production coming to ASU Gammage beginning February 27, challenges the ideologies of traditional theater and the audiences it is intended to serve.

Jenny Vila, the creative producer and lighting designer of A Teen Odyssey, recalls a time when she was a teenager, where seeing a classical piece of theater was “the most boring thing” because the show was not catered to a younger audience. Today, Vila and the rest of the production crew are changing this narrative and ensuring that younger generations can relate to the content shown on professional stages.

The development process for this show centered around human connection involved consulting 17 teens over a three-month time period. Vila said that their insight was imperative to the creation of the show.

“We wanted their voices to be really present and be really part of the conversation,” Vila said. “It was about them and for them.”

The show itself is an immersive theater experience that follows a young woman in her 20s and an older man in his 60s as they and the audience explore themes of connection and identity. The production encourages audiences to reflect on their experiences with adolescence and invites them to bridge the gap left between generations.

During the actual production, audience members are required to use their cell phones to watch and interact with the show. In one of the early moments of the production, viewers follow instructions on their phones that divide them by generation (i.e. Boomers, Gen Z, Gen X).  However, after receiving different question prompts, the audience are then regrouped based on their answers, not by their age. 

“It’s a really beautiful moment in the show because you get this intergenerational connection,” Vila said. 

By involving the use of technology in a production centered around breaking generational divide, Vila hopes that A Teen Odyssey invites a new era of teenagers and young adults to experience theater that they can relate to.  She says that bringing in younger audiences into the world of theatre is crucial to its survival.

“They're the audiences of the future,” Vila said.  “If we want to keep on doing theatre and for the arts to be alive, they need to be able to access work that they can connect to.”

As the next generation of youth begin their journey with the arts, Vila strongly believes that connecting with young people through theatre will support them as they grow.

 “I think it's very important to navigate and to offer experiences that [young people] can relate to and then they can venture out to things that they might not have necessarily thought that were for them,” Vila said. 

Performances of A Teen Odyssey will take place at ASU Gammage from February 27-28.