A word from Emilie Robson, writer of Dogs On The Metro

2008 was a big year. Obama was elected, Brangelina welcomes twins and Miley Cyrus caused quite a stir with a Vanity Fair photoshoot, which involved little more than a sheet, draped around her teenage body. It was also the year that I turned 16 and therefore the year it felt like sex became less of a scandalous, fringe activity but an absolute obsession for my peers. Part of this was human nature. And the other part was the sex obsessed, trashy, tabloid culture of the time; a culture which called Bridget Jones fat, counted down the days until Emma Watson was “legal” and called Miley Cyrus a “Lolita”.

While it’s evident the youth of today have not resolved the issues we faced in the noughties and in some ways, perhaps have it worse, growing up at that time and specifically in an ex-industrial town in the North-East, had a unique flavour. And in a post ‘MeToo’ world that flavour has left a bad taste in the mouth of many of us who grew up here.

Dogs On The Metro was born of several desires. One, to simply write in my own dialect and set a story in my hometown and another, to tell a small and sadly all too common story and hopefully in a way that felt bold, dynamic and also reflected the very nature of memory. I wanted to tell a story that felt truly authentically “Geordie” but also reflected the teenage experiences of people all over the world.

Sadly, it feels as if Dogs On The Metro could well have been written about now. After a brief period of reflection and then resistance, it seems the pendulum has swung once again in the direction of misogyny and violence. While the explosion of social media has undoubtedly changed the rules of the game for teenagers today, the arena remains much the same. Sex is a commodity that lots of young men feel owed, rather than a shared experience that should be entered into enthusiastically.

It's important to me that Dogs On The Metro feels about the culture rather than the individuals within it. You’re welcome to disagree but I believe creating villains of young people who make honest mistakes is a fast track to radicalisation. That said, this is a play about and to an extent, for the victims of those mistakes who may only be fully reflecting on those experiences now.

It’s no word of a lie when I say I wrote Dogs On The Metro with Live Theatre in mind. Winning the North East Playwriting Award and therefore, getting to see my little play realised on this stage in particular, is not just a joy but a dream come true. I can’t thank the whole team at Live Theatre enough for their talent, passion and contributions and also you, the audience, for taking the time (and perhaps even the Metro?) to see our work.