I imagined that Everybody Dies would be a gory, yet educational performance. The morbid title and the controversial topic of vaccination may lead one to believe that adults are performing the production. However, audiences will be pleasantly surprised to discover that it is presented by SAYarts, an Adelaide youth theatre company.

According to director, Claire Glenn, when presented with the topic of immunisations, the actors voiced their support. Thus began the exploration of how the pro and anti vaccination debate is both an ethical and scientific dilemma. This posed the question, ‘what if there were no vaccines?’ Everybody Dies demonstrates this issue with a country in prohibition run by a political dictator and one doctor’s quest to reveal the known medical benefits of vaccination.

The performance utilises physical theatre, melodrama, and satire. It has numerous pop culture references, with allusions to cult-classics and social media, as well as a mockery of contemporary society’s trends. The actors adeptly maintain the flow of the plot line, whilst continually incorporating humorous elements. Information, news, and the dictator’s regime, are shared to the public through the aptly named ‘Murdoch machine’ – a mouthpiece for the leader’s biased opinions. This seems like a clever dig at what the media chooses to write and share with the general public.

It is unclear for the majority of the play as to why vaccination has been banned, and when an explanation is given, it seems implausible with shallow reasoning. Some of the story lacks cohesion with a few unnecessary scenes. In these moments, the humour occasionally falls flat, indulging in cliché jokes. The humour is targeted toward adolescents, yet still managed to be genuinely funny to myself, and the other adults in the audience. I was impressed by the way in which the young actors portrayed their characters, from their voices, to their personality quirks and movements. Their characters gave the story life, passion, humour, and realism.

The wonderfully childish humour worked well against the serious theme and the audience interaction heightened the experience. The performers clearly enjoyed their time on stage and were very enthusiastic, making the show lively and energetic. While not aimed at an adult demographic, this performance should be highly anticipated by younger audiences looking learn something, and never stop laughing.