Playwright E V Crowe is probably best known for her Royal Court debut, Kin. Dealing with the pre-adolescent trials of growing up at boarding school, Kin was a adult play full of children; now, Crowe is turning her hand to writing for younger audiences with Liar Liar. Currently playing at the Unicorn Theatre and originally commissioned as a prequel to King Lear, Crowe tells Laura Turner about how the play has developed, working with and for young audiences, and creating a play that, when you watch it, feels like eating a Haribo sour.

How did Liar Liar come about?
I ran some youth classes for a Unicorn project called ‘text generation’ which encouraged young people to write their own play. And I was also commissioned to write a new play, originally as a sort of prequel to King Lear, which became Liar, Liar.

Liar, Liar is a story about a girl called Grace who has been out all night and everyone wants to know where she was. She tells them what she thinks they want to hear, until the end when she tells the truth to her Dad, which turns out to be a lot harder than lying. She has the kind of energy and imagination that I experienced when working with young people. And she’s fighting for a sort of inner self: the right to be her own person.

You’ve written for young characters before – was this a similar process?
I haven’t written a play for a youth audience before. I wanted to honour how they presented their experience of the world to me when I spent time with them. I wanted the play to be on their side, or at least to ask questions that are relevant to them, even if these aren’t normally considered important details. For example, how young people sometimes internalise how they are perceived by adults, and then sort of become that person without even noticing. And the power of friendship, which is a strange relationship never really mentioned in law or in the history books, but a friend can save your life, I think. Texting can be like an epic poem of emotional commitment.

There must be challenges as well as positives?
I think a youth audience has the potential not to play by the rules of theatre – as in I don’t think they will sit politely and tell everyone they had a marvellous time at the theatre. I think they will react if it’s boring and react if it’s not representing them in a way that feels honest. I like it; I like knowing how an audience feels right away. That said, I haven’t written something that just seeks to ‘entertain’; I’ve taken them seriously and written something that I hope is about big ideas in terms of how the world works, not just about a kid who fibs.

Do you enjoying exploring adolescent expereince in your writing?
I’m drawn to people who tell the truth and whose emotional lives are important to them. I think teenagers respond to their emotions and spend a lot of time navigating relationships and power dynamics and versions of themselves. I think there’s good drama in all that. And it’s exciting to play a part in giving it a voice in ‘art’. If theatre is art. Which I think it is. But of course young people should respond to what I’ve written by writing their own play. That would be brilliant.

What would be your advice to aspiring playwrights?
Don’t give up. If your play is rubbish, write another one. Nurture your interests and idiosyncrasies. If there’s a metaphorical bruise, push it, don’t worry about three act structure. Try and join a writers’ group connected to a theatre.

Are inspiration and influences important too?
I think I’m inspired by other writers of my generation who work really hard and are fearless in their responses to the world. It feels important to not always be wishing you were Arthur Miller (I kind of do) but to take responsibility for the now, and know that what we say as writers now matters. And that theatre matters now more than ever. That said, I really like Edward Albee, Caryl Churchill, Anthony Neilson, Christopher Shinn…

And what can audiences expect from Liar Liar?
There’s a line in a play where Grace says it’s like “falling asleep in a bag of Haribo sours”.

Liar Liar plays at the Unicorn Theatre until 6 March. For tickets and more information, visit http://unicorntheatre.com/liar-liar.

Image credit: Danusia Samal as Grace in Liar Liar by Manuel Harlan