Bullying takes many forms in today’s fast-paced world and technology, which has helped us build a better society in so many ways, has allowed its dark tentacles to spread online and become an often faceless and ever-present force that tears us down, whichever way we turn.

Inspired by true events, Crystal Springs, is a gripping play about the challenges of parenting in the digital age and is the first in a double-header of plays being performed at Park Theatre by Finsbury Park company Epsilon Productions.

Both productions deal with bullying and question how well society is coping with the challenges of growing up in the 21st Century. And both star company co-founder Angela Bull, as the very different mothers of each victim.

In Crystal Springs, written by award-winning American playwright Kathy Rucker, she plays Rose, a suburban mother who is obsessed by her daughter’s online social circle and inadvertently sets into motion a scheme with a horrifying outcome.

“I’m not a mother myself, but we have done a lot of research and worked with Ben Cohen’s Stand Up Foundation to get an insight,” she says.

“I experienced bullying as a child. I wore glasses and got called ‘four eyes’ and was beaten up.

“But I think it was very different then and during rehearsals we spoke about how much we would hate growing up in today’s society. Back then, if you said something it was gone the next day but now everything is there on the hard drive and children don’t know how to censor themselves.”

The 43-year-old will juggle her performances of Crystal Springs this month with rehearsals for the world premiere of Chicken Shop in September, in which she plays hippy lesbian Hilary. Written by 2013 winner of the Bruntwood Playwriting Prize, Anna Jordan, the second play deals with bullying on a very physical level and tells the story of Hendrix, who is beaten up at school because his mum is gay and so he must be too. In an effort to prove his manhood he visits Luminita – a trafficked prostitute enslaved into an unbearable life. They find solace in snatched moments in a sordid room above a chicken shop.

Angela says: “We like to choose theatre that hits you in the solar plexus. I don’t want people to be walking out thinking about what pizza topping they are going to have but thinking ‘is that me? Does that happen in my social circle?’ “We don’t want to make people feel awkward or uncomfortable, but to show the truth and make people have a reaction. That’s what theatre should be, otherwise you may as well spend the evening in McDonalds.”

Park Theatre, Clifton Terrace, Finsbury Park, Crystal Springs until August 31 and Chicken Shop from September 2 to 28. Details: 020 7870 6876, parktheatre.co.uk