This year Canberra Youth Theatre has assembled a cast of young people from Canberra high schools, colleges and universities, to devise, create and produce Retrieval, a site-specific, promenade performance installation through 8 spaces, 5 floors and the dark, publicly inaccessible nooks of the National Library of Australia.

Retrieval takes the audience on a weaving journey deep into the stack of the National Library. On a heroic quest, the audience is thrown into the belly of the beast and a cyclical journey of deposit and retrieval ensues – of stories past and stories to come.

Why do we record and archive our past if we do not learn from it? What are the dangers of digitization and full open-access to knowledge? Stories of the mundane and of great profundity are deposited there hoping one day to be retrieved – to be read – to be heard – to be of use – to make a difference – what if the stories were destroyed?

History repeats itself when stories are not heard and heeded. It is our collective duty to retrieve the distant and recent past and learn from it, but are we ready to go into the dark or unfamiliar spaces to do this? Retrieval challenges us to look back in order to look forward.

Canberra Youth Theatre has sold out every show for the past 3 years - Retrieval is bound to be no exception! There is limited capacity for each show so book early to ensure you dont miss out.

Catch Retrieval at the National Library of Australia (Parkes Place, Parkes ACT) from 19-28 November and 3-5 December at 7.45pm. Tickets are $25 adults and $18 concession. For bookings call CYT on (02) 6248 5057 or shoot them an email.