Exploring the sinister, predatory underbelly of the internet and the realities of growing up online, Playback is a tragicomic drama drawn from Scottish writer and performer Euan Munro’s lived experience as a YouTuber between the ages of 11 and 14. Shortlisted for the 2024 David MacLennan Award, the show combines live performance with footage from Euan’s original, often painfully awkward YouTube videos, blending past and present into a deeply personal and sharply comic story. What begins as a cringe-filled comedy nostalgia trip gradually darkens into something more unsettling, raising urgent questions about internet safety, digital consent, and the shadows cast by early online exposure.
Euan created a YouTube account at just 11 years old in 2012. Although the platform officially required users to be 13 or older at the time, enforcement was lax; in addition, YouTube struggled to effectively filter out inappropriate content and comments, including comments made by adults on teenage content. At the height of his success he accumulated over 1.5 million views across his videos in total with over 10,000 regular subscribers. After making his account private, Euan returned to his channel years later and was horrified to discover the comments and conversations had with adult strangers online, some of which spanned years.
Writer and performer Euan Munro said, “For years, I saw my time as a child YouTuber as a bit of harmless fun and a good dinner party story. It wasn't until I revisited my channel as an adult that I was able to see the experience for what it really was. With Ofcom reporting a third of kids in the UK are posting video content online and Adolescence breaking records around the world, it's clear there's a huge appetite for stories that try to make sense of the social media age. I'm part of the first generation to grow up online, and Playback is my attempt to turn that lived experience into something entertaining, honest and urgent.”
Euan Munro is a Scottish actor, writer and filmmaker based in Glasgow. Since graduating from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2023, he’s worked as a performer with the National Theatre of Scotland, BBC and CBBC among others. His debut short film Raindog enjoyed a successful festival run in 2024, screening around the world at Oscar & BAFTA-qualifying festivals and taking home several awards, including Spirit of Independence Film Festival’s Rising Spirit Award.
Katya Searle is an actor, writer and director from Glasgow. Since graduating from RCS in 2022, she's performed with Dogstar Theatre Company, Finborough Theatre & Cumbernauld Theatre among others. Since 2024, Katya has curated and hosted I'll Scratch Yours, a scratch night at Glasgow's Old Hairdressers alongside Francesca Hess. Katya's directorial debut Bad Habit enjoyed a sold-out run at last year's Edinburgh Fringe at theSpaceUK.
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