Described as "a seething play of thrilling twists and turns", American playwright Amy Herzog's Belleville should give Silo Theatre ample space in which to explore Generation Y's "sense of entitlement to success and happiness and their inability to deal with suffering and disappointment".
Also known as Millennials, the unnatural successors to Generation X were born in the latter stages of the last millennium, are civic-minded, narcissistic, detached from institutions, networked with friends, wealth-focused but lumbered with debt and the recent world economic crisis. In other words, they're like any other generation, and yet somehow different.
In his late 20s, Auckland actor Matt Whelan could easily fit the bill, in more ways than one, which makes him an ideal candidate to play the lead opposite Sophie Henderson, directed by Oliver Driver, who certainly isn't Gen Y. Except Whelan doesn't appear to share many of his contemporaries' archetypal traits.
"For me, a sense of success comes from earning it," he says. "I think our generation is often led to believe otherwise. For me as an actor, success is being able to work. I have ambitions and dreams, but also I think it's important to relish the present."