Being a teenager is terrifying – and Cathy Petocz’s new supernatural slasher, The Initiation, explores the horrors faced by young adults.

The story follows six teens, some known to each other and some not. They meet at twilight in Turner, when a strange new girl suggests they all head to Black Mountain for a ritual of initiation. Once on the mountain, they go on a journey together while also taking their own individual journeys.

Petocz describes the play as deeply symbolic in the way it presents issues faced by teenagers; one character fears what it means to become a man in an age of toxic masculinity, while others deal with issues like self-harm and surviving sexual assault.

“We dig deep, right to the bone, to get to the heart of some scary things about being a young person who is almost a kid but looked at by society as almost an adult,” Petocz said.

On the mountain, the teens try desperately to rid themselves of a knife that seems to be following them. The knife itself possesses a shape-shifting magic, changing the type of blade it is when someone new carries it. What unfolds is a whole lot of blood and gore with a big, beating, warm heart at the centre.

Petocz began exploring the idea of a horror representation back in 2020 before the ACT went into lockdown. She drew from her own experiences as a teenager being freaked out how her body was changing and how every social situation seemed terrifying.

Along with her students at Canberra Youth Theatre, they worked together on the idea, hoping to present it as an end of semester show. However, once lockdown hit and they were no longer able to meet in person, Petocz suggested they all needed something to work towards and turned the idea into a play pitch, which the company’s artistic director, Luke Rogers, loved.  

Part of the research and development involved Petocz watching hours of horror movies, noting the way teens were often portrayed in the stories as troublesome. She was particularly bothered that curious or sexually active teens were often punished with bodily harm or death, while strong characters were shown to be monsters who are out of control. The biggest issue she saw was with the narrative of the final girl.

“The tendency for there to be a lone survivor – a character who is celebrated – but when I think about what teens need, it’s community; they’re much more powerful when they have their peers. so, I think this trope of celebrating this last girl or lone survivor is very anti-teen because they need each other.”

Throughout lockdown, Petocz spent a lot of her time walking her suburb of Turner and it surrounds. It was during these outdoor excursions she felt a powerful energy from Black Mountain and knew it would make not only the perfect setting for the script, but it would play a role as its own character as well. Wanting to ensure that country was respectfully represented, she reached out to Ngunnawal poet, Ethan Bell.

“I knew that there are sacred sites on Black Mountain, and I also read a sign in Haig Park that talks about how Black Mountain is a site for men’s business. I’m not Indigenous and I’m not a male, so I felt like the right thing to do would be to seek consultation from a male Ngunnawal community member.”

Bell played an important role bringing knowledge and ensuring meanings come across correctly. A lot of elements could only be expressed in the play through metaphor and symbol as it is protected knowledge that couldn’t be written down in words and it wasn’t right to freeze them in time, Petocz said.

Once the play was at a stage for feedback, the group performed two showings in front of live audiences, which included family members of the cast: one using the special effects like fake blood. Petocz was anxious the parents would be uneasy with the themes and violence on stage, but was surprised when the audience feedback suggested even more blood and more violence. After a few minor touches and the inclusion of more blood and bodily functions (sympathy vomiters are encouraged to bring their own paper bag), the play is ready for its debut.

The Initiation has been picked up for publication by Currency Press, one of the country’s foremost performing arts publishers.

The Initiation will be thrilling audiences at The Courtyard, Canberra Theatre Centre, 15-19 June. Grab your tickets here.