Skatepark play 'questions' toxic behaviour

A theatre director hopes a new skatepark-based play will "provoke conversations" by exploring the dangers of "toxic masculinity".

Top G's Like Me at Northampton's Royal & Derngate follows a group of "rudderless" young adults and explores online culture and the pull of an "insidious" fictional influencer.

Its cast includes David Schaal - who previously played Jay's dad in The Inbetweeners - and EastEnders actor Danny Hatchard. It also features a community chorus made up of 25 third-year drama students from the University of Northampton.

Artistic director, Jesse Jones, said he hoped the play would lead audiences to "ask questions of the online space".

• BBC Bitesize: What is toxic masculinity?

"The play is asking parents, adults and young people to examine how they use the online world, and think about how manipulative that can be if we follow all the advice that might be given [by influencers]," he said.

"Young people in particular are susceptible to that level of manipulation by their algorithm."

Written by Northamptonshire's Samson Hawkins, the play deals with hard hitting themes, features strong language and references incidents of a sexual nature.

Jones said: "The way I would describe the language in the play would be to reference This Country or The Office.

"We hear some of the language used in the online space that can lure people in to think that they need to act in a certain way to the people around them, and women in particular, and how that doesn't necessarily get you to the place that you want to get to.

"Actually, empathy and sensitivity is a positive version of some of that masculine space."

Described as being like Netflix's Adolescence if it were a comedy, the play follows the story of Aidan, an 18-year-old searching for meaning who becomes drawn in by an insidious influencer he finds online.

Dan Rainford, who plays Aidan, said the play provided a challenging but necessary social commentary.

"Social media has developed and developed at such a pace. We're all addicted to our phones now, aren't we?" he said.

"We've all got a phone in our pockets; we're all seeing the same stuff... or we think we are.

"Our opinions are now coming a lot more from things we see online. What we should be doing is chatting a bit more. Seeing if those opinions stick a bit more when you say it to a real person."

The play's setting is based on Radlands - the UK's first indoor skatepark which opened in Northampton in 1992, closed in 2004, and then reopened at an outdoor site.

Schaal said it was "one of the most impressive sets" he had worked on, adding that he hoped the use of comedy would lead audiences to interrogate their use of social media.

"Getting people to laugh is really important... you can't just come in and start preaching," he said.

"The whole thing is about taking responsibility, about how toxic masculinity works. I think it's really important for people to think for themselves, think about what they watch - not just consume things without thinking."

Harry Day, one of the third year students involved, said there were "awful sides to the internet, but great sides too".

"I know when I was 16 I would watch things [that promoted toxic masculinity] and now obviously you grow up and realise it's such a narrow way of thinking."

Thousands of students from local schools and colleges have attended matinee performances of Top G's Like Me, and Kimberley Mandizha, also part of the university student ensemble, said she hoped audiences would leave "feeling we care".

"I think the comedy [in the play] is necessary - it helps you take in the information," she said.

"Our hope is after you've had that laugh that you can actually take a moment to think about it and what's just happened."

The production runs until 7 March.

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