Tough Beauty is a play that is based on real life YouTube clips of schoolyard fighting and violence.

Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre (CPAC) is absolutely thrilled to announce their very first in-house theatre production, Tough Beauty.  Tough Beauty marks a pivotal moment in the story of the Casula Powerhouse by merging contemporary theatre-making with the CPAC’s cultural vision and local community awareness.

Created by director Claudia Chidiac and writer Finegan Kruckemeyer in consultation with young people from local communities, Tough Beauty is a response to the escalating statistics of young female violence.

Based on wholly Australian research, forums and workshops with local teens over the last 3 years, Tough Beauty has morphed into the story one might not expect. This is not a puff piece, this is not a morality play, this is not a lesson – Tough Beauty is a raw and honest look at a frightening and important evolution in the history of Australia’s young girls.

Initially borne from YouTube fight clips and schoolyard insults, Tough Beauty highlights the change – where once there was a playground, now there is a warzone – it is about keeping your eyes down and your fists up. Half a minute of violence which will decide your next five years of high school.

There’s the girl who’s new. There’s the quiet girl. There’s the girl with no boyfriend and the one with too many. There’s the girl who looks different, the girl who’s asking for it. And there’s the girl who’s just looking at me wrong. She doesn’t even know she is – but she is. And then there’s me, the girl who’s scared of nothing. The girl they tell rumours about. Like the time she put Stef Chamber’s head through the screen door, or the time she got caught carrying a knife, or the time a massive year 12 hit her in the mouth, and the blood ran between her teeth, and she just smiled. She smiled like it was just someone saying hello. And then she said hello back.

Tough Beauty will launch an exciting new era at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, where in-house productions will continue to be developed within the centre and the local communities for years to come. All future productions will focus on the professional, theatrical depiction of relevant and diverse stories that will engage the local communities as both audience members and contributors.