The production, devised and written over the course of a year by the teen co‑authors, imagines a world thirty years after a cataclysm called The Reckoning, where survivors have split into three factions—Adaptation, Restoration and Ocean Dwellers—who clash over dwindling resources.
Program Director Gabriele Preston said the Shadow Company of Yes! And…Collaborate Arts is one of the few Greater Philadelphia youth programs that guides teenagers through the entire process of creating and staging an original work for a public audience, rather than a family‑only showcase.
Executive Director Christine Herrman explained that the teens drew inspiration from dystopian media such as “The Hunger Games,” “The Last of Us,” and “Hadestown,” blending those influences with concerns about climate change and political division to craft a cautionary yet comedic narrative.
Professional theater artists provided mentorship, but the writing, blocking and choreography were driven by the teenagers themselves, who met in 15‑minute writing sessions, split into small groups, and often turned idle chatter into creative breakthroughs.
The play’s debut at the Fringe Festival marked a departure from typical youth theater, as the audience comprised ticket‑paying strangers rather than just friends and family, giving the young creators a sense of real‑world performance pressure.
Fringe Festival CEO Nell Bang‑Jensen noted that more than half of the festival’s audience now identifies as Gen Z or millennial, and she hopes to attract even younger participants by expanding youth education initiatives in partnership with programs like Shadow Company.
Research cited by Thalia Goldstein, director of Applied Developmental Psychology at George Mason University, supports the developmental benefits of such collaborative theater work, highlighting gains in decision‑making, collaborative thinking and mental agility among adolescents.
Participants like junior Larson, who aspires to a professional theater career, described the experience as a space to experiment with identity and creativity, saying the process helped him grow both artistically and personally.