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From sociology to critical theory, analysis of the internet and its effects on the behaviour and cognitive processes of computer users has predominantly been written by those old enough to remember a time before the world wide web crept into every comer of our lives like Japanese knotweed up a cracked wall. This generation of commentators, comprising early and late internet adopters, has produced an almost mythical object of fascination and speculation in 'net natives', the catch-all term for those young enough to have no experience of pre-internet days. While their alleged lack of interpersonal skills, short attention spans and rewired neural networks are frequently written about, a considered account of net native experience from the keyboard of a net native is a seldom-seen thing. But, at the UK premier of New York-based video and performance artist Ann Hirsch's disquieting semi-autobiographical play, audience members were unmistakably pulled into the world of those-who-grew-up-online.
Playground, 2013, is a well-paced, funny and frequently disturbing two-hander. It tells the story of a period of online grooming and subsequent sexual abuse, by proxy, between the predatory Jobe, a slimy 27-year-old 'hacker' played to unctuous perfection by Adam Hadas, and Anni, a Bambi-eyed, compassionate girl of twelve handled with extraordinary versatility and confidence by Anne Marie Wolf.
The pair meet in an online forum called 'the chat' and develop a relationship through a series of typed exchanges. Jobe gradually shifts from an avuncular, self-appointed system administrator to...