A double bill of new works from Southwark Playhouse Young Company shows a group of young artists with their fingers firmly on the pulse of their generation, whose potential can certainly be developed with some refinement and focus. Both one-act pieces focus on issues of ‘the youth today’, a phrase dismissed so angrily by one of the characters of Children of the Revolution, varying from distrust of the government and the price of education, to addiction to social media and online personae.

Children of the Revolution, performed by the 15-18 Years Company, explores an imagined general election in which the voting age is lowered to 15, leading to a landslide victory by ‘The Future’ party. The social commentary is pretty unsubtle and the ending – an apparently perfect society in which the teenagers in power led the country with ease –  is rather simplified and sentimentalised. However, these young performers present a work that is aware of the pressing issues for their generation, and there is a keen sense of creative buzz. In particular, a strong scene sees characters drawing parallels between the Orwellian Animal Farm commandments and their own school rules, and perhaps gives a suggestion of what The History Boys might be like if it was set in a 2014 high school: the same combination of intellectual spark and teenage rebellion reigns.

With no character list it’s sadly impossible to put names to faces; yet mention must go to some great character acting from a flamboyant Prime Minister David Campbell (ring any bells?) with a love of Whitney Houston. The actor is let down by a script that drags out the comedy beyond its potential, but his comic timing got a rapturous reaction. Elsewhere, perhaps down to nerves, fast delivery and a lack of projection into the space means some chunks of dialogue are completely lost. Yet on the whole, this ensemble use space well, have a strong grasp of character and understand how theatre can be used to dissect the world around us. They should now focus on delivery and exploring this sketched plot further to discover the nuances of their themes – but there’s plenty of good signs for the future.

In the second half, Digital Ghosts – by the 19-25 Years Company – puts another on-trend theme under their microscope, that of social networking and the digital age. There’s a risk that this could already feel outdated, with the novelty of the social media explosion behind us, but the company do an impressive job of maintaining freshness and currency throughout. There is plenty of humour – with a good deal coming from the wickedly accurate mirror it holds up to us all – including a disastrous Skype date and a character who talks largely in hashtags (“#save #Africa #justsayin #Isaid”).

This work is sharper in performance than the first, as you’d expect from a more mature cast, yet its snapshot style needs more focus to create a wholly satisfying piece. While some threads are strong – for example a girl suffering from amnesia who in fact needs her ‘digitial ghost’ to make her memories – others seem rather haphazard. Although it’s one of the funniest scenes of the night, it’s unclear how a conversation about the poverty crisis in Africa is relevant to digital communication. It’s almost as if there’s too much creative material in one work, and with so many interesting trains of thought, it’s worth streamlining and focusing to make sure they are presented as effectively as possible. Once again, director Paul Edwards uses the space of ‘The Little’ intelligently with excellent staging (although I was at times rather blinded by Zoe Spurr’s lighting design…) and this is a short but sparky production that keeps the audience enthused and entertained.

All in all, a successful evening’s work that shows a lot of promise from these ensembles. There are certainly elements that can be streamlined, and areas to work on in delivery, but Southwark Playhouse Young Company are in touch with their audiences, confident in their artistic vision, and able to create rounded characters swiftly that already shows an impressive aptitude for their craft.