At Brisbane’s Metro Arts, adolescence is exploding: awkward, hilarious, and gloriously chaotic.
'Dance Nation', the ferociously funny, gut-punching play by Clare Barron, doesn’t just show you the mess of growing up, it hurls you straight into it. Told with humour and heart, a group of pre-teen competitive dancers fight for national glory while stumbling through ambition, rivalry, sexuality, friendship, and the constant tug-of-war between who they are and who the world expects them to be.
For Director Timothy Wynn, that messiness was the point. “I wanted to find a work that couldn’t be anything but theatre,” he says. “'Dance Nation' is a wild journey. There are moments that seem unstageable or super challenging. . . And I love that. It was like this Everest for us to climb.”
Wynn, who has directed everything from Shakespeare to Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, says Barron’s stripped-back script required a shift in approach. “There’s this deceptively simple text, full of silences and dots on a page, and you have to build meaning into every moment,” he says. “You can’t just play the words. You have to lean into the emotion.”
Barron also flips the typical dance narrative. In her casting notes, she specifies that it’s better if the actors have “no real dance talent”, something Wynn embraced. “It strips away perfectionism and focuses on raw, unfiltered ambition,” he says.
For actor Carla Haynes, who plays Zuzu, it’s been a liberating process. “It took the pressure off,” she says. “I could show up as myself and just throw everything into it.” Haynes comes from an improv background, and says 'Dance Nation' gave her permission to reconnect with a more playful, spontaneous side of performing. “It’s about embracing the awkwardness and remembering what it felt like to be 13.”
That doesn’t mean the show is any less demanding. “I’ve had to ask the choreographer to make it harder because everyone’s nailing it,” Wynn laughs. Haynes credits choreographer Jennifer B. Ashley’s approach with changing how she thinks about dance. “Jen’s big on the idea that dance is for everyone,” she says. “It’s reconnected me with the kid who danced in the living room without caring how it looked.”
'Dance Nation' balances absurdity with brutal honesty. “You’ll laugh your head off, then get sucker-punched by something real,” Wynn says. Haynes agrees, saying the play hits on universal themes – teenage crushes, insecurity, body image, and the painful excitement of figuring yourself out.
At Metro Arts, the intensity only sharpens. “The play works best in an intimate space, but I don’t think it’s by any means small,” Wynn says. “Navigating how something so large and bombastic sits in an intimate space where the audience are quite close to the action is going to be really exciting.”
The show also asks its audience to reflect on ambition and self-worth. “Sometimes giving up is actually the brave choice,” Haynes says. “This play celebrates both ambition and knowing when to let go.”
Wynn agrees. “Not everyone gets to ‘make it’ in life or in the arts. But this play shows there’s dignity in both chasing your dream and knowing when to change course.”
'Dance Nation' doesn’t just entertain, it delivers a gut-punch reminder that success can be messy, personal, and completely different to what we’ve been told.
'Dance Nation' plays New Benner Theatre (Metro Arts, Brisbane) 20-30 August.
