BEATS is a coming-of-age story set in the raving 90s, when “public gatherings around amplified music characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats” were outlawed.

Written and performed by Kieran Hurley, Beats has won the young Scot multiple awards and huge critical acclaim.

We chatted to Kieran about the live music and visuals in the show, its political message and the youth today.

RR: Beats is set in 1994 when a new piece of legislation effectively outlawed raves, or “public gatherings around amplified music characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats.” Did you go to raves in the 90s? What are your most memorable experiences?

KH: In 1994 I was 8 or 9 years old so if I did have direct experience of the rave scene at that time my most memorable experiences would probably make for more sordid and troubling reading than is appropriate for an arts and culture magazine. Happily, my own formative experiences in that sort of scene came later, and definitely inform the show, and the initial interest that compelled me to make it in the first place. I was really just thinking about the Criminal Justice Act of 1994, which you mention, and how ludicrous it was. "Characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats" - isn't that more or less all music? The free party movement was defined by hedonism rather than an overtly political stance, but this act of parliament suggests that someone, somewhere, in power felt threatened enough by this subculture to try to legislate against it. So that just seemed like a really interesting to place to start exploring some questions about the nature of the power of gathered youth.

RR: Why do you think governments have a habit of 'villainizing' the next generation?KH: There are loads of reasons for this I think. As a culture, we're not very good at trusting or listening to young people. Teenagers occupy this really weird cultural space where they're such a sought after target market that if you switch on the telly it can feel like everyone is competing for their attention in order to sell them something. But when it comes to actually listening to and valuing young people's voices, there's still not much scope for that in our society. I think adults often approach teenagers with a weird mixture of fear and envy. They have the potential to destabilise things by approaching the world differently, and for the powerful that's very unsettling. There's also a class thing going on here I reckon. Governments haven't historically villainised young people on the register at Eton - you don't get an ASBO if you're in the Bullingdon Club. The most popular image we have of a "dangerous youth" is a kid with a hoody on a council estate, but in reality there are young people right now getting born-to-rule educations who are much more likely to inflict real harm on you, your kids, and your community in the future.

RR: Do you think kids have it easier today than they did in the 90s?

KH: I don't think they do if I'm honest. Youth unemployment is higher now than it ever was in the nineties, and this government seems intent on making the experience of being unemployed as humiliating and exhausting as possible. Tuition fees are extortionate too. I think there is very little evidence to suggest young people are being handed a better deal now than they were twenty years ago. I don't mean to sound bleak about this, I just think we need to be alive to the fact that we're living under a government that is ideologically to the right of Thatcher.

RR: Your show incorporates a live DJ and live visuals- is this in the hope of targeting young audiences? How do you think we can get more young people into theatres?

KH: The idea of working with a DJ was there from the start, but I didn't begin making the show by thinking "what can we do to target young audiences?" I don't think anyone really starts from that place, if they did I'd find it kind of odd. When I'm writing, or thinking about how a show might develop, I'm usually working much more impulsively than that, rather than setting out to meet a set of strategic goals. Because of what it's about, I always knew Beats was going to have to have a real emphasis on music. Johnny Whoop, the original DJ for the show was involved right from the start, before I'd written a thing. The music is a really central element, and combined with the lights and with Jamie Wardrop's live visuals, creates quite an intense ravey atmosphere at times. Which is maybe quite odd considering I spend the whole time sat at a desk with a microphone. Really the music and the visuals are there to create a powerful sense of a live event and to create an atmospheric and thematic space in which the story I'm telling can live. If it does attract a younger audience - and I think it has done - then that's obviously brilliant too. Though I also read somewhere that recent research shows that theatre audiences are younger than we generally think they are

RR: And how do we get more young people taking an active role in politics?

KH: I think this is really important, but it is politics that has to change, not young people. I saw recently someone had mooted the idea of compulsory voting for young people. I think that's a terrible idea: we'll treat you like crap and then if it turns out you're not interested in us, we'll fine you. In any case, getting more young people involved in the merry-go-round of parliamentary politics as an end in itself seems to me a slightly futile exercise. So many people find "politics" completely alienating, not just young people. It's the whole system that needs a shake-up, in order for people young and old to feel empowered in it, to feel it is relevant to their lives. If we widen what we mean by "taking an active role in politics" though, then you look at the student protest movement, the anti-cuts movement, the anti-fascist movement, and in Scotland in organisations like National Collective, and you have to concede that young people might actually be more politically engaged than we like to give them credit for.

RR: What is the future of protest? As a generation often accused of being politically apathetic, the number of issues we're faced with can feel overwhelming- climate change, bedroom tax, changes to the NHS; we seem to have more than ever to protest about, but with such fruitless results from protests against things like the war in Iraq and tuition fees, what can we try that will actually make a difference?

KH: I love that people often want to ask me about this kind of stuff, but I have to stress that I'm no position to talk from a position of authority on it. All I've done is write and perform some plays. I'm more than happy to be considered a "political" theatre maker but it's not necessarily something I'm setting out to be. My main thought on all of this is just that it's really important not to give up. Keep on keeping on, as the saying goes. I think the mainstream left also needs to accept more widely that sometimes lobbying, petitioning, and sanctioned marches can only achieve so much. The Suffragettes achieved real meaningful change, and they accepted that to get there they might sometimes have to cause some real trouble - just sayin. I also think that if Scotland votes for independence that has the potential to shake things up in an interesting way. Who knows what would happen, but it could potentially be really galvanising for the left in England too, for us all to begin to throw out the old assumptions and question where we are.

RR: As a young person who's working successfully in the arts, what one thing- other than raw talent- would you say has helped you 'make it' ?

KH: Well I hadn't actually realised I had "made it" so that's good to learn. Nice one. I've been lucky enough to benefit from the support of organisations like the Arches and the National Theatre of Scotland who've both played a major hand in helping me make this my job. I think I've also been lucky in that I've always felt part of quite a supportive community of theatre makers in Glasgow. There are a few of us who it feels like have sort of grown up together, and there are some key people who I've always been able to rely on for critical support, as well as more experienced folk who've been happy to offer thoughts on my work. It's important to remember that you're not alone, and that the people around you are your colleagues and your community, not your rivals. That's more than one thing isn't it? Sorry.

See BEATS at Soho Theatre, 14th-26th October, full details here.