Northampton’s Royal and Derngate is hoping thousands of young people will see the world première of Samson Hawkins’s Top G’s Like Me which will “follow a group of rudderless young adults in a post-playground world of seething toxic masculinity”.
The theatre’s artistic director, Jess Jones, who will direct the play, said, “in our classrooms, online and on our streets, some young people are having ever more misogynistic and extremist views that are parroted verbatim from online personalities. We know it’s ever more difficult for young people to escape the grasp of this manipulation as they’re only ever one swipe away from it.
“As the Online Safety Bill and parent power begin to move the dial on social media companies’ accountability towards the safety of children and young people online, this play is a crucial comment on the challenges young people face, rooted in the heart of Northampton. We’re putting this show on in our larger space, the Derngate, and want our auditorium and building to be full of up to 900 young people per show.”
The auditorium will be transformed to reflect Northampton’s Radlands skatepark. Top G’s Like Me will also have an “ambitious” programme of sessions in classrooms designed to help teachers “address the negative effects of social media in a more urgent and dynamic way”.
Royal and Derngate has started an open auditions process for the lead role in the play. Anyone may apply regardless of professional experience.
Top G’s Like Me will run in Northampton from Friday 20 February until Saturday 7 March 2026. It is written by Samson Hawkins whose play Village Idiot was produced in 2023 by Theatre Royal Stratford East, Nottingham Playhouse and Ramps on the Moon.