The events that inspired Nick Enright to write a play called A Property of the Clan in 1992, which he went on to adapt into Blackrock in 1995, live in the memories of people in their middle years now.

Ask a group of teenagers if they've ever heard of Newcastle schoolgirl Leigh Leigh and what happened to her during an unsupervised surf club party in 1989 and you'll likely come up blank.

Get them to Google the name, however, and the story of Leigh's death will strike a very contemporary chord, says Kim Hardwick, director of a new production of Blackrock opening at the Seymour Centre.

"I worked on a drama school production of the play a few years ago and had a discussion with a high school audience afterwards," Hardwick says. "It became very apparent that the things depicted in Blackrock are still part of everyday life. Many of them could see themselves reflected in the play, or their friends, or had heard of similar incidents."

Girls watching that show were noticeably startled, says Hardwick. "That reaction is why this story needs to be on the stage."

Expanded from A Property of the Clan, which was originally created for Newcastle's Freewheels Theatre in Education, Blackrock is set in the aftermath of the death of a girl at a welcome home party for a local surf club legend.

The play does not depict the murder itself. Instead it focuses on a stifling culture of mateship and misogyny, and the effect Tracy's death has on her friends and the parents of those involved.

The play premiered at  Sydney Theatre Company in 1995 in a production starring Joel Edgerton, Dan Wyllie, Kym Wilson and Angela Punch McGregor. Blackrock was then adapted into a 1997 film that featured the first credited performance of a young Heath Ledger.

Though Blackrock is now 30 years old, Enright's depiction of Australian youth culture is still current, Hardwick says. "The objectification of young women, the binge drinking, the repression young men feel around issues of language and not being able to express themselves in words … It's all still with us. So that 'boys will be boys' attitude, and the idea that girls just have to cope with it until the phase passes, is still around."

Hardwick's cast includes Sam Delich​, Lucy Heffernan, Gautier Pavlovic-Hobba, Zoe Carides​ and Danielle King. Tessa James plays Rachel, a 15-year-old school girl who is profoundly changed by the events.

"Rachel is the moral heart of the play, she speaks her mind and stands up for herself," says James. "It's confronting for everyone. These are really heavy issues. But what you see in Rachel is how important it is for young women to feel comfortable with who they are and what they believe. It's about making young people aware that you can speak up and that situations like the one in the play are not part of some kind of normal."

Enright addresses a very Australian cultural trait in Blackrock, Hardwick adds: the tendency to downplay serious issues. "We tend to turn a blind eye to things that are said or done and it's because we don't want to make a scene. But that only creates a sense of helplessness. What you are really doing is bedding down a cycle of abuse that will perpetuate.

"I remember reading a quote from Nick when he was reflecting on the play and he said that the most terrifying thing for him was that the children in the play are one day going to be the parents."

Enright died in 2003, and Hardwick's production brings his story out of period and into the present. "I'm not changing the text at all but we are incorporating things like characters being able to play music on their phone and sharing messages through Snapchat. Nick wouldn't have wanted it to become a historical piece."

Blackrock

When March 9-26

Where Reginald Theatre, Seymour Centre, Chippendale, $35-$42, seymourcentre.com

Stars Kate Cheel​,  Sam Delich, Lucy Heffernan, Tessa James, Alex Packard, Gautier Pavlovic-Hobba