Sexuality and teenage prostitution: a play to open discussion with students

How to bring out a discussion on sexuality and adolescence in the classroom? A few months before the entry into force of the new programs of education on emotional and sexual life in French primary, secondary and high schools , a play is trying the bet. Directed by Carole Errante, L'Aire poids-lourds , by the Australian Lachlan Philpott, will be performed on the stage of the Théâtre des Carmes, at the Festival "off" in Avignon, from July 5 to 26. Before that, the play toured secondary and high schools in France, since December 2022.

Three 14-year-old middle school girls are bored at recess. They skip class, hang out at a highway rest area, talk about the world, dream of driving fast in a sports car, imagine themselves as Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman ... In this "adventure" that looks like an MTV rap video, a truck stops. Two of the girls challenge each other to offer the driver a ride for $50.

Isabelle Rainaldi, a theater teacher in Marseille, took 80 students from her school to see a performance of the play. "I noticed that they liked it because it was raw and it told the story of their experiences. The theater is a place where we tackle all kinds of subjects, which gets them talking about them." With sharp language, the Australian dissects the series of small and large events (even traumas) that lead a nascent sexuality to take the path of prostitution: from the first period—which makes the boys laugh—to the "nudes" that make the rounds of the school, including male domination in young couples, sexual assault, and difficult communication with adults...

You have 79.54% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.