The UK series Adolescence has swept the globe since its premiere on Netflix earlier this year. Instantly becoming one of the most talked-about shows of recent years, the hard-hitting drama tells the story of a community dealing with the fallout of toxic masculinity in young people.
Adolescence is also notable for its technical mastery. Each of its four episodes is executed in a single take, which for the actors and writers gives the staged screen drama a feeling closer to live theatre than television.
Adolescence explores themes that are familiar to many Australian dramas. Here are five Australian plays that tread similar territory.
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‘Oedipus Doesn’t Live Here Anymore’ by Daniel Evans
A little over a decade before he was appointed Queensland Theatre’s Artistic Director, Daniel Evans penned this contemporary Australian adaptation of the tragedy of Thebes. The play won the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award and was later produced by Australian Theatre For Young People.
Evans’ play takes the entire Theban family tree and restages it in suburban Australia, performed by a quartet of teenagers. Using the Ancient Greek story, bullying, violence and family themes are all covered.
‘Talking to Brick Walls’ by Claire Christian and the Empire Arts Impact Ensemble
Christian’s astonishing verbatim work was initially produced in Toowoomba. Using interview data from conversations between teenagers and their parents, the play covers a lot of ground, from the humorous to the profound. Ideal for classroom use and as a conversation starter, the work’s documentary style gives it unshakable legitimacy.
‘War Crimes’ by Angela Betzien
Bietzen’s work often examines the gothic horror of youth, but her 2012 play War Crimes is perhaps her most violent. Five young women play out a story of a country at war after their close friend perishes in a conflict with Afghanistan. The play reflects on violence, bullying and the complexity of adolescent relationships.
‘Strangers in Between’ by Tommy Murphy
One of Murphy’s first break-out works, Strangers in Between tells the story of a young man growing up gay. He flees his rural hometown for Sydney’s Kings Cross. There, he finds a plethora of male archetypes. Just like Adolescence, some are helpful, others are dangerous. The play was first performed in 2006 in Sydney.
‘Seventeen’ by Matthew Whittet
Whittet’s remarkable play is designed to be staged with a suite of senior actors, but all the characters are seventeen. On the cusp of adulthood, the teens host a celebration that farewells adolescence in an explosion of youthful glee. Profound and moving, the play takes teenagers’ most isolating experience, making it universal and communal.
