Perth Voice Interactive

“OUR youth love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority, they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise. They contradict their parents…and tyrannise their teachers.”

Opinion is out on whether this was a lament by Socrates or Plato, but it is safe to say the oft-heard groan “kids of today” has been around for a few thousand years.

Onefivezeroseven follows Barking Gecko Theatre’s Driving Into Walls, which toured Australia to critical acclaim in 2012, and is a look at teenagers and what makes them tick.

Playwright Suzie Miller and Gecko director John Sheedy have crafted a play from the raw content of hundreds of interviews with teens across the nation.

“Their stories paint an amazing picture of young people that has humbled and enlightened Suzie and I. We’re inspired to be creating a dynamic theatrical event that reveals not only the face of young Australia, but the decisions they will make for the rest of us in the next decade,” Sheedy says.

Onefivezeroseven is drawn from the average number of breaths a teenager takes each hour, the number of things they own and the number of emotional moments they have a day.

It explores how young people’s identities and sense of belonging intermingles with their possessions, opening wide the door to their inner sanctum, Sheedy says.

Much of the challenges facing teenagers, as they morph into adults, remain the same down the ages, the director says: “[There] are common themes.”

But the biggest challenge facing 21st century teens, and their parents, is the internet.

“If the net was a country it would be the fifth most populated country in the world—and the population would be teenagers.”

The demands that such open access places on young people is immense, Sheedy says.

“I admire them for bravely navigating this world…while still being connected to the tactile world.”

Teens were asked how much time they spend on the net.

The average was five to six hours a day—but some said 20.

“I said wow, there’s only 24 hours in the day. And they said ‘and your point is?’” Sheedy laughs.

The youngsters were also asked what they would like to see changed in Australia.

“Eighty per cent said ‘get rid of Tony Abbott’.”

They also want to be able to vote at 16: “They say they can legally have sex and should be allowed to vote,” Sheedy says, adding they predominately had strong views about caring for the environment, and supported equal marriage.

Onefivezeroseven is on at the State Theatre, Northbridge, February 21 to March 1, performances 1 and 7pm. Tix at ticketek or 1300 795 012