Bird and Bees, Charlie Josephine’s innovative new play, shines a spotlight on the potential dangers of today’s social media, but through the eyes of four teenagers, who left unsupervised and whilst in detention are tasked to write a speech.

There has been a recent school sexting episode and the play uses this event as a framework in which to explore a variety of more complex topics including mental health, drug use, feminism, internet safety, gender inclusivity, exam pressure, pornography and everything else in between.

The play has been written on behalf of the Theatre Centre, a national touring theatre company, who make bold, relevant shows both with and for young people in schools, theatres and communities, all to be used primarily as a vehicle for discussion. I can well imagine that this play will facilitate some uncomfortable discussion between staff, pupils and parents.

Birds and Bees is about that complicated topic of sex which, along with human relationships, is never as straightforward as some of the glossy magazines may portray. It is also a realistic representation of what I perceive a teenager’s life to be like in 2023, recounted in a humorous and at times very moving way.

Leilah (Dumile Sibanda) and Aarron (Richard Logun) don’t appear to care about detentions or school authority whilst Maisy (Sandra Belarbi) is the exact opposite, desperate to work hard and do well at school.

Billy (Milo McCarthy) is a transgender student and their character immediately forces the play into the wider debates currently dominating the newspaper headlines. This revelation also creates tensions within the group, particularly between Aaron and Billy.

The four characters are very real possessing many human flaws and frailties and whilst the play is a work of work of fiction, I suspect that it is not at all far-fetched. Reassuringly, as the characters develop, they do begin to show an understanding tolerance of others’ views and opinions.

Emotions are powerful things and can preclude all notions of rational common thought. It is uncomfortable to watch how overwhelming they can become, particularly for teenagers, who don’t yet fully either understand or know how to manage them. The use of coloured lights and loud music to portray each time one of the characters feels particularly strong emotions is both compelling and extremely effective.

Towards the end of the play, the characters deliver the speech they’ve been tasked to write to discourage their peers from taking or sharing explicit pictures. ‘It’s time to change’, they say. This mess ‘could have been prevented if we’d all been better educated.’ They’re not, however, accusing the ‘overworked, underpaid teachers’. Instead, they’re describing a systemic change that needs to happen and that they believe must now be driven by young people. By describing what needs to be done through powerful spoken word, they highlight the absurdity of current school sex education and look to a brighter future for teenagers in schools today.

Remember, the teenagers of today probably can’t imagine a world without social media and let’s not forget that most teenagers today almost have to be surgically parted from their phones or i-pads, after all, if something appears on any social media platform it has to be accurate and truthful , doesn’t it?

Be warned, it’s well worth watching but you may feel at times slightly uncomfortable.