With more and more people raising concerns about the toxic effect of smartphones on children’s mental health, a topical and urgent new play questions how the most connected generation in history has also become the most anxious, lonely and depressed.
Phone is a portrait of a generation in pain.
Set in a hotel by the English coast, Phone tells the story of four siblings on a family holiday who are falling further and further apart as they are consumed by the virtual world.
Phone will have a limited initial run from 7th to 9th November at The Courtyard Theatre, London. It is a minimalist piece that explores our relationship with modern technology. It questions how the most connected generation in history has also become the most anxious, lonely and depressed. It is an urgent and topical piece that asks people to reevaluate their priorities in the modern world and take back their attention from the devices that are stealing it.
Commenting on the play, Writer and Director, Sam Taylor said:“Mental health amongst Gen Z is a huge problem. This is not down to some new faulty gene, cranial malfunction or inherent weakness; it is the impossible environment they are being forced to grow up in.
People have found a new home away from home in the form of a highly intelligent, beautifully designed rectangle that is reductively known as the Smartphone. Anxiety has become a natural state. And for an unlucky generation, it has become an escape from reality. An alternative location to spend our lives. It is a world that we can control, a world full of sleek designs and bright colours. It is beautiful. It is ideal. And that’s the problem.
This play is an urgent plea from an affected member of a suffering generation to engage with reality. If we don’t stand up to the tech companies, who are exploiting our vulnerabilities for profit, we will keep sinking and kill off those profound moments of human connection that make life worth living.”
Sam’s words echo those of actress Drew Barrymore, who recently revealed that she held talks with iPhone giant Apple about creating a ‘dumb phone’ to counter the toxic effects of social media on children.
He hopes that his play will be seen by as many young people and their parents as possible, and that they will leave ready and willing to change their reliance on, and relationship with, these hand held devices that are destroying their mental health.
This is the second play from Goldfinch Theatre Ltd. following the success of the sold out and extended run of critically acclaimed ‘Pimms & Piety’ which premiered at the Etcetera Theatre, Camden, from 8-12th November 2023.
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To book tickets: www.thecourtyard.org.uk Ticket price: £19.50 (+ booking fee)
Address: The Courtyard Theatre, 40 Bowling Green Walk, Pitfield St, London N1 6EU
Date: 7th-9th November Running Time: 80 minutes (no interval)