“LIVING in the ‘Communication Age’ where we are constantly connected but have never been more alone,” theatre director Christopher Carroll, says.

With that in mind, he and a group of actors from  Canberra Youth Theatre’s Emerge Company have been working on a new piece of theatre, “Sympathetic Resonance”, to be staged as part of Canberra’s new festival of new arts and innovation, “Uncharted Territory.”

The production is the culmination of an intensive 20-week training and professional development program with Carroll that brings together seven emerging theatre makers aged 18-25 to collaborate, train, and create their own work as a company.

They’re not giving too much away, but sat the play poses questions such as: “Why is it hardest to bare your heart to those you’re closest with?” or “Do words bring us nearer to the truth, or get in the way”.

“Sympathetic Resonance” examines the complexity of communication in its many forms, from the jarring intimacy of hook-up culture, to the surprising nuance of emojis, to the collective joy and rage inspired by karaoke.

Put another way, it’s an “original work of experimental theatre that traces how one word, screamed or whispered, sung or left unspoken, can change the course of our lives… In the beginning was the Word – but how’s it supposed to end?”

Company member Zoe Ross, says: “The show is a funny and intellectually stimulating look at the resonance and the dissonance of various moments of connection. We hope it will make audiences think about how we express ourselves consciously and subconsciously, and how meaning is communicated.”

“Sympathetic Resonance”, C-Block Theatre, Gorman Arts Centre, July 14–16.