The Shy Manifesto by Michael Ross

Seventeen-year-old Callum is proud to be shy and he thinks you should be too – because what this noisy, crazy world needs right now is a bit more self-restraint.

Tonight, he is to address an audience of radical shy comrades and incite the meek to finally rise up and inherit the earth.

But memories of the previous night’s drunken escapades at a classmate’s end-of-term party keep intruding, and threaten to upend the fragile identity he has so carefully created for himself.

The Shy Manifesto is a bittersweet coming-of-age comedy/drama about a shy boy (expertly performed by Jake Matricardi) who is fed up of constantly being told to come out of his shell.

"In its strongest moments, the play does well to articulate the real pain of being a teenager." - Exeunt Magazine

“Ross, Matricardi, and director Gavin Roach masterfully manipulate complex themes surrounding identity, coming of age, and coming out, in a perfect little gem of a production.” - Farrago Magazine