How the PaperCut Collective turned cat videos into a show about social media addiction

Today, my Facebook feed includes videos of a baby emu playing with a dog, a compilation of ill-judged cat leaps and a school mum trying to cram as many clothes as possible into a sock. It's kinda funny. For a few seconds.

Posts like these, and countless others, are what prompted Newcastle's PaperCut Collective to create No One Cares About Your Cat, a show about social media, addiction, privacy and human connection.

"We started looking at articles in the mainstream media saying social media is bad for you, or that Facebook makes you lonely, and that people are becoming addicted or lazy or narcissistic," says Lucy Shepherd, who is one-third of the theatre collective alongside Tamara Gazzard​ and Sarah Coffee. "We wanted to question whether this is really true."

Commissioned by Tantrum Youth Arts, the playful No One Cares About Your Cat is devised by performers aged 18-26. It incorporates posts on social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, as well as their personal emails and texts.

"Interestingly, none of the young performers use Twitter," Gazzard says. "Twitter seems to be a social media for older people."

One of the performers is a vlogger with his own YouTube channel. He kicks off the show by filming a segment with the audience in the foyer. The footage is edited and presented during the performance. Another segment is lit by mobile phones.

During an early workshop, one of the young contributors complained about Facebook feeds full of pets and newborn babies. "No one cares about your cat!" became the title of the show.

Interestingly, another performer is on Facebook, not as herself, but as her cat, Spot Marrion, who boasts 1367 friends. The cat's profile, status updates and stories are included in the show

Working on the show has prompted a lot of discussion within the group and among audiences, Gazzard says. "One of our performers was exploring her addiction to social media. She realised that even though she uses social media a lot, she also gets a lot out of it. Her life wouldn't be the same without it. Another performer doesn't have Facebook and she has some very strong views in the show about why not."

No One Cares About Your Cat is upbeat and humorous but there are moments of sadness and reflection, says Shepherd. "The show is designed to make you think. It's definitely made me think about how I use my own social media. I've tried to become more of an active user. It's very easy to be passive and 'like' things here and there, but you're not actually engaging in a conversation. I'm trying to make my use of Facebook more active and more meaningful."

No One Cares About Your Cat opens at ATYP in Walsh Bay on September 30.