Nightwalks with Teenagers
Canberra Youth Theatre + Mammalian Diving Reflex
12, 13 + 14 November 2026
Day + Time | Thursday, Friday + Saturday | 7.30pm
Location | Canberra City, TBD
Entry | General Admission $15 | Bookings Essential
Access | template, template, template
Nightwalks with Teenagers is a walking performance created in collaboration with young people, who plan, design and lead public walks through the city at night, sharing their favourite parts of the neighbourhood with members of the community. The performance brings together teens and adults who might not otherwise meet, to have experiences related to a shared place and time; it offers an opportunity for adults to socialise with young people in a safe social space, where everyone can let loose, and silences offer moments for contemplation.
Coming to Canberra for the first time, Nightwalks with Teenagers will mark the inaugural collaboration with acclaimed international performance company, Mammalian Diving Reflex, and Canberra Youth Theatre. Joining dozens of other cities who have activated their urban spaces, this iteration of Nightwalks with Teenagers will unveil a hidden side to Canberra, inviting audiences to surrender control, follow unfamiliar routes, and experience the city through perspectives they may not usually encounter, all the while empowering young people as public storytellers worth listening to. By placing young people in leadership roles, Nightwalks with Teenagers asserts their right to define how Canberra is seen, understood, and navigated.
Taking the audience through the streets and paths of Canberra, this walking performance will uncover undiscovered sights and untapped talents. Expect to dance, laugh, run, walk and parkour your way through our urban playground as we follow shared paths and connected futures.
Within these innovative social experiences, walking together at night becomes a subtle yet powerful act of resistance by reclaiming public space for intergenerational connection, questioning perceptions of risk and belonging, and highlighting the urgent youth voices that shape urban experience.
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Canberra Youth Theatre is one of Australia's leading youth arts companies — a home for bold new works created in collaboration with young people, emerging artists, and professional creatives.
Creating new theatrical work with, by, and for young people is at the core of what Canberra Youth Theatre does. Its productions, commissions, and creative development programs are platforms for artistic expression and pathways for emerging artists to find their voice, build skills, and create work of outstanding quality.
By engaging young people as genuine collaborators in both process and performance, Canberra Youth Theatre fosters a culture where their contributions are valued, their ideas are nurtured, and their potential as cultural leaders is realised. Through mentorship, artistic support, and professional opportunities, Canberra Youth Theatre is shaping a dynamic landscape of new work that reflects and celebrates the creativity of young people.
SEE WEBSITE HERE -
Based in Canada, Mammalian Diving Reflex creates site and social-specific performance events, theatre productions, participatory gallery installations, videos, art objects and theoretical texts to foster dialogue and dismantle barriers between individuals of all backgrounds. They create work that recognises the social responsibility of art, fostering a dialogue between audience members, between the audience and the material, and between the performers and the audience. Their work has been presented around the world in more than fifty cities. In all its forms, the company’s work dismantles barriers between individuals of all ages, cultural, economic and social backgrounds.
SEE WEBSITE HERE
Images
Night Walks with Teenagers Bologna 2023 | Photo by Margherita Caprilli
Night Walks with Teenagers Bristol 2015 | Photo by Paul Blakemore
Night Walks with Teenagers Germany 2017 | Photo by Martin Steffen